Divine Intervention
by Breaking-Benjamin-rules
Summary: Worried for the well being of her sister, Hylia, Palutena sends Pit to aid the chosen hero Link in his quest to rescue his friend and keep a grave evil sealed. With limited contact to Palutena, Pittoo searching for him and quickly developing feelings for Link becoming more and more known to him, will Pit be able to survive this quest? PitxLink, takes place after Uprising.
1. A New Mission

**I'm baaaack~! With an all new story!**

**The idea is, Pit has to help Skyward Sword Link save the world. And I wanted to experiment with the pairing of PitxLink, and just plain Kid Icarus stuff. This is the result. Enjoy! I own nothing, obviously.**

"Pit, I have a job for you to do."

I looked up at the shimmering image of the goddess, frowning. "What is it, lady Palutena?"

Palutena looked into the water of the nearby fountain. I followed her over and sat at the edge, watching as she traced the water. "I have a sister who needs my help."

"A sister?" I asked.

Palutena nodded as the ripples formed the picture of a young blonde girl with blue eyes. "Yes. Her name is Hylia. Several centuries ago, she sealed away a great evil. To keep it contained, she created a special weapon meant for a special hero, and gave up her immortal form. She was reborn as this girl, named Zelda I believe."

"I see," I murmured, "How does she need our help?"

"Recently, young Zelda was taken from her home by an evil force," Palutena said.

"Is it someone in the Underworld Army?" I asked.

The goddess of light shook her head. "No. It isn't." Palutena lowered her head as the ripples formed the image of a young boy with dirty blond hair and sapphire blue eyes. "This is her hero, Link. The young male has already started his journey to save her. And I want you to accompany him."

"What?" I asked, "Can he not handle it?"

"It's not that," Palutena said, "He's perfectly capable. That's why he's her destined hero. It's just..." Palutena bit her lip. "My sister asked me not to get involved, but with her host's kidnapping...this isn't how things were supposed to go, and I'm worried something will go wrong." She looked at me. "I need you to protect Link, help him save my sister, and help him keep the monstrosity Hylia sealed away from escaping his seal."

I stood up and lifted a hand to my chest, a balled fist over my heart. "I'll do my best, lady Palutena! You can count on me!"

Palutena smiled at me. "I knew I could. Once you're prepared, tell me and I'll activate the power of flight."

"Got it!" I jogged inside of the temple and exchanged my bow for the Samurai Blade. Then I said "I'm ready, Lady Palutena!"

"You know what to do, Pit!" Palutena said.

I dashed towards a door as it opened and jumped out, feeling the power of flight fill my wings and lighting them blue. I looked around. Clouds were everywhere below me, and I could see rock islands dotted around the blue sky, with a larger rock island in the distance. A huge statue stood out in that direction. After that was a ginormous, stormy cloud head, and to the left of the island was a green light and a hole in the clouds. "Where are we?"

"Just outside of Skyloft," Palutena said, "The rock island my sister put the Hylians on and hid in the sky when she was fighting against the evil she sealed."

Palutena, guiding my path, flew me closer to the island. "Don't worry about anyone seeing you," she said, "I've disguised you using my powers, so you're invisible."

"Thanks, lady Palutena!" I looked around as I flew. I looked to my left, and barely managed to stop as a red blur passed by quickly. "Woah! What was that?"

"It was a Loftwing," Palutena explained, "Giant birds that Hylia gifts the Hylians as lifelong companions so they can ride around the skies. That one was a Crimson Loftwing, so that means it belongs to her hero."

"How do you know?" I asked.

I could feel her sheepish smile. "I, ah, may have been observing her domain longer then I made it out to be."

I rolled my eyes as she brought me into full view of the statue's front. I examined it, amazed. "Wow."

"It's a statue of my sister," Palutena said, sounding proud.

"It's amazing!" I exclaimed.

"Isn't it?" Palutena sighed. "Anyway, I just thought you should see that." She turned me around to face the green light. "That, my dear Angel, is our destination."

"The light?" I asked.

"Yep!" She began to guide me to the hole, "This will take you down straight to the surface, though things will get difficult."

"How so?" I asked.

"See, this cloud barrier is Hylia's doing," Palutena said, "There is a chance we won't be able to talk again until you are back in the sky. However, there is a possible solution."

"And that would be...?"

I could hear the smile in Palutena's voice. "Viridi. See, the majority of what you'll see down there is all nature. Since that's her realm, I'll see if there's some way we could communicate through her."

"Alright," I said with a nod, "I'm ready." And, with a confirmation, I was sent speeding through the hole down to the surface.

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	2. Meeting The Hero

**no reviews, huh. Doesn't matter. I'm still updating! I have a lot of inspiration for this. Chapter three is written and waiting for editing, and chapter four is in the works. :3**

**so, yeah, enjoy, those who are reading this! I own nothing, obviously.**

Luckily, Palutena managed to maintain our connection long enough to land me on a small cliff overlooking a huge, circular pit before we lost connection. A large log blocked the view of the pit and I sighed. "Darn, I wanted to see it some more."

"Oh well," a familiar female voice echoed in my head.

I jumped, letting out a sigh as I recognized the voice. "Viridi."

"That's right," the nature goddess's voice said, "Good to see your memory still works."

"Lady Palutena said she was going to talk to you," I said.

"No need; I overheard your conversation with her," Viridi said, "And, since I'm in a good mood and am feeling generous, I decided why not help?"

"So you'll help?" I asked.

"Yes, but there is a catch to the whole thing," Viridi said, "I stored some of the power of the earth into these bird statues that Link-Hylia's hero-can use to return to the sky. If you touch them, you can talk to Palutena so long as you are touching the statue. The catch is Link has to activate it by praying to Hylia at the statue first."

"Really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey! I did what I could!" Viridi said indignantly, "I don't control the activation of these statues!"

"Well, I appreciate it," I said. I frowned. "Uh, you wouldn't happen to know a way out of here, would you?"

I heard Viridi sigh. "Through the cave behind you, dummy."

I turned, seeing a pitch black cavern behind me. "Oh. I knew that."

I began to walk through, and before long emerged on the other side. I looked down from the cliff. Far off to the left was what looked like a temple and a circular clearing propped up on a higher edge. Directly below me was a weird looking orange-skinned creature with rocks on it's back and a backpack, surrounded by red-skinned creatures wearing fur and bandanas and waving swords in their hands, squealing angrily at the bigger creature.

"Hey!" I called, "leave him alone!" I jumped down from the cliff, landing nearby. "Attack me instead!"

The creatures looked at me with their beady eyes before deciding I was a better victim and rushing at me. I sliced through each one, and when they went down, they vanished into puffs of dark purple smoke.

It didn't take long until there were only about three or four left. Around that time, I heard running footsteps, a grunt, and a squeal as a creature went down. I turned, seeing a silver glint pass through another one, killing that one as well. Deciding to see who it was after the battle was over, I took care of the last two with ease. Once things calmed, I looked at the newcomer.

It was the boy Palutena had showed me-Link, the destined hero, I believe. However, he wore a large, floppy green hat, a green tunic with a belt around the waist, chain mail and a long white sleeve of an undershirt peeking from the edge if the sleeves. He also wore gloves, brown leggings, and matching boots. A sword and wooden shield was slung behind his back.

Before I could say anything, the creature from before approached us, looking appreciative of our saving him.

"Phew!" He said, "Thanks for jumping in there to rescue me, buds."

"No problem," I said, smiling.

The creature frowned thoughtfully. "Just who were those red pests? I did not expect to run into a pack of them in this peaceful forest." He looked at Link. "Same goes for you. This is he second time I've bumped into one of your kind today." He looked at me. "And this is the first time I've seen someone like you." He crossed his arms. "I tell you, all sorts of weird things are going on lately."

"I bet," I murmured thoughtfully.

He looked up at us. "I owe you both big for taking care of those guys, so let me tell you something fascinating." He lead the both of us to a moss covered statue tucked away in the nearby shade from a cliff, standing beside it and looking back at us.

"Uh, who are you, anyway?" I asked, frowning.

"Hey bud!" He said in response, "I am Gorko the Goron. I am researching the ancient history of these woods here. According to these ancient texts, there is some kind of place up above called the Isle of the Goddess. Far up in the sky!" He gestured to the statue. "Apparently, these old statues serve as landmarks to those traveling up to the sky or down from the Isle of the Goddess place."

I examined the statue as he continued to talk. Was his the statue Viridi had been talking about?

"Supposedly this statue is special, as it is said to have the ability to activate all the other statues," Gorko said, crossing his arms again, "It sounds a little crazy, I know, but I for one believe it to be true."

I tuned him out again, this time looking out the corner of my eye at Link as he continued to listen to Gorko, nodding occasionally. Quite the quiet one, isn't he? I wonder why he hasn't said anything...

I watched as he walked forward towards the statue. As he neared it, the statue suddenly lit up orange and purple. The moss completely vanished, leaving the statue looking good as new, much to the amazement of Gorko, me, and Link himself, based on the sound he made.

Gorko looked at Link with wide eyes. "What in the world just happened?" He asked, "Did you use some kind of magic?" Link shook his head, making Gorko get excited, almost jumping like a little kid on his birthday. "The statue reacted the second you got near it, bud! How crazy is that?!"

"Incredibly," I said, still surprised.

Link sighed and put his hands together. He lowered his head and closed his eyes, and I could tell he was sending a quick prayer to Hylia, the goddess he worshipped. Then he looked directly at me.

"Hi, uh," I said, "Could I talk to you? Alone?"

Link nodded and lead me a little distance away from Gorko and the statue before looking back at me. Then he spoke, something that surprised me. "Fi, who is he?" My eyes widened when the hilt of his sword began to glow and a female voice answered him.

"Master, my records on him are...limited. I do not know much about who he is or why he is here."

"I can answer that," I said. I gave a little wave. "My name's Pit, servant of the goddess of light, Palutena."

"Why are you here?" Link asked.

"I'm actually here on lady Palutena's orders," I said, "She asked me to help you on your journey."

"Lady Palutena?" Link asked, his eyebrows furrowing. The same lady voice began talking.

"The sister to my creator, the Goddess Hylia. They rule different realms," she said.

"Yep!" I said, my wings extending slightly, "I serve lady Palutena and do tasks she asks of me to do, though things have been quiet for a while. That is, until she sent me here to help you." I walked back to the statue and touched it. "Lady Palutena?"

"Pit!" Lady Palutena's voice echoed, clearly relieved, "You're alright. Thank goodness."

"Yeah!" I said, "And I found Link! He's right behind me, actually."

"Pit, you can't tell him why you are helping him," Palutena said, "He has to learn on his own. Until then, do not tell him why you are there."

"Alright, if you say so," I said with a frown.

"There's one more thing; Pittoo is looking for you."

I rose an eyebrow. "Pittoo? Why?"

"He wouldn't say," Palutena said, "I didn't tell him where you are, and he shouldn't be able to find you anyway. So just focus on helping Link."

"Alright." I removed my hand from the statue and turned to Link. He rose an eyebrow curiously. Gorko was too involved in some texts to notice.

"What was...?"

"Ah, don't worry about it," I said. I looked around, seeing an opening nearby, and gestured to it. "After you, Link."

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	3. Chasing Machi

**thank you to those who have read this! :) i appreciate the support. As i speak, i have Chapter four finished and ready for editing. :D**

**So, with that, I hope y'all enjoy chapter 3! I own nothing!**

I followed Link, watching him push a log against a cliff and use it to scale onto said cliff. I did the same, seeing a blue beacon that vanished when Link walked through it and into a more wooded area with another bird statue directly before us.

As we slowed to a stop, a bright light left the end of Link's sword. It flew to be in front of us and formed the figure of a woman. She had blue skin, blank blue eyes and blue hair. Her arms were like two cloaks-one purple, the other blue, with a blue gem on her chest and a dark purplish top-like thing underneath with two parallel gold lines. Her legs were dark blue, with green lines criss-crossing up her legs.

I jumped at her appearance, but Link didn't seem surprised, merely looking at her curiously.

"Master," she said, addressing Link, "You have entered Faron Woods." Her voice was monotone as she spoke. "The plentiful water in this region clearly sustains a large diversity of flora, including this massive tree."

I looked up, seeing a large tree in the distance. Was that the tree she was talking about?

"Yes, Pit," Viridi's voice said in my head, "It is. Quite impressive, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah," I said, "I didn't ask for your opinion." I looked back at the lady and Link, continuing to listen.

"Looking at the probabilities, it is extremely likely that Zelda is somewhere in this area," she said, "I recommend you continue to use your dowsing ability to search for her." With that she turned back into a bright light and returned to Link's sword.

"Uh, who is that, anyway?" I asked.

Link glanced at me. "Her name is Fi," he said, "The spirit of my sword."

"A sword spirit," I mumbled, "That's new." I shook my head and looked back at him. "Anyway, we ought to continue."

Link nodded and I followed him a little further in. We came upon a shallow pit with a rope hanging from a tree branch. I watched as Link took a couple of steps back before running forward, jumping when he was on the edge. He grabbed onto the rope and used his momentum to swing himself to the other side. Sighing, I followed his movements, landing on the other side. If only I could fly on my own...

I followed him some more into another pit, where we found some more of those red creatures, except circling a tiny creature with leaves on his back, like a bush. He was belly down on the ground, seeming to be trying to hide from the monsters to no avail.

"Hey!" I called, attracting the attention of the creatures, "Why don't you attack something your own size?!"

The monsters let out enraged squealed and ran in our direction, swords waving in the air. We unsheathed our respective weapons and easily sliced them down, causing them to disappear. Once they were gone, we sheathed our weapons and approached the creature, who was peeking around, as if searching for the monsters.

"Huh...? It's gone quiet." The creature stood up, the leaves disappearing into a bulb on it's back. It turned and noticed Link and I, and began shaking again. "Kwee-koo! Now there's a green and white one! I didn't even know they came in green and white! Don't hurt me, koo-weep!"

"Hey, we aren't-!" I was ignored as the creature turned, running up a steep slope and disappearing from view. I frowned. "What was that?"

"That would be a Kikwi!" Viridi said, "Isn't it adorable?"

"Kikwi?" I asked, "sounds weird."

"Oh, what do you know? Nature isn't exactly your strength!" She said.

"Duh, you're the nature goddess," I said.

"Whatever," she muttered.

"Pit."

I looked at Link. "Yeah?"

"Fi said that the creature might have had contact with Zelda," he said.

"Really?" He nodded. "Then let's go find it and see if it knows where she went!"

We ran up the slope. It was incredibly steep, and we were both panting once we reached the top. I watched him head to a green fruit that seem to be glowing and pulled it out of the ground. "These are down here?"

"What is it?" I asked, frowning.

He glanced at me and split the fruit. He handed half to me. "Try it."

I frowned and grabbed the fruit, taking a bite. As I swallowed it, I felt some of the exhaustion from the run up the slope vanish instantly. "Woah! What is this?"

"It's called Stamina Fruit," Viridi said, much to my annoyance.

"Do you plan on annoying me the entire time I'm here?" I asked.

"Why yes," Viridi said, "Yes I do."

"Just my luck," I sighed, finishing up the fruit.

"Pit...?"

I looked at Link, who was looking at me with a raised eyebrow. "Ah, sorry."

"Who were you talking to?" He asked as I stood up.

"Ah..." I sighed. "Her name is Viridi. She's the goddess of nature, and considering we are in these woods, we're kind of in her territory. So I'm fairly sure she's planning to bugging me as long as I'm here."

"Sounds annoying," Link commented.

"Ehh, a little bit," I admitted.

"How rude," Viridi said, sounding offended. I ignored her.

"Anyway, back to searching for the Kikwi, right?" I asked.

Link nodded and we continued on. On a small ledge, we found the Kikwi again, and ended up slashing giant mushrooms to scare it out of hiding. Finally we managed to catch up to it under a tree.

"They spotted me again!" The creature fell flat on the ground, the bud on it's back open and the leaves sticking up like a bush or something. "KWEEEE!"

"Hey, we aren't gonna hurt you," I said comfortingly, kneeling on the ground.

After a moment, he peeked back up at us. "Huh? You don't want to...eat me? Kwee...And come to think of it, why did you fight off all those red monsters?"

"To help you, of course," I said, smiling.

Seeming to calm down, the creature stood back up, the bud closing, and looked at Link and I. "Kwee-Paleep! I'm Machi! I'm a Kikwi! You two seem okay, even though you're scary. Thanks for helping me!"

"No problem," Link said behind me.

Machi looked at Link. "That's weird, kee-koo. A little while ago I ran into another funny animal like you, but that one was a girl."

I heard Link inhale softly behind me. "Zelda?"

Machi looked confused. "What's a Zelda? I don't know who this girl was, koo-kwee, but she was in a bunch of trouble when I saw her. A pack of those mean red guys were after her, kwee, but she escaped with the Kikwi elder."

Fi came out then, scaring Machi into hiding once again, the bud on his back opening to disguise him. She turned to face him. "Master, we have obtained new information on Zelda's current status. This information indicated that she was assailed by monsters but somehow evaded capture. However, I infer that she is still in significant danger." She turned to look at Link. "Furthermore, my analysis suggests that this Kikwi most likely produces a false-positive dowsing reaction due to previous contact with Zelda."

"Could have figured that out on our own," I mumbled. Did she always state the obvious?

"Using this hypothesis, I theorize there is an 85% chance the Kikwi elder will also generate a dowsing reaction for the same reason," she went on, "I propose you continue dowsing to search for Zelda." With that she returned to Link's sword.

Machi, who had been peeking up at her near the end of the conversation, stood back up and looked at Link. "You really spooked me, kwee. You keep some very strange company, friend."

I looked up at Link, watching him glance at me before nodding. I gave a light glare and rolled my eyes, looking back at Machi.

"Kwee-Paleep...it sounds like you're set on finding this friend and the elder," he sighed, "If you're heading that way anyway, kwee, would you mind telling the elder that I'm safe?"

I stood up next to Link, nodding. "Yeah, no problem," I said, glancing at Link, who was frowning at the ground.

Machi must have noticed, because he said "Cheer up, koo-weep! I bet your friend is safe with our elder!"

Link nodded. "Yeah." He looked at me. "Let's go."

**and there you have it! See that little button that says "Review this Chapter"? click it please! Sayonara~!**


	4. Into The Forest

**And here it is! Chapter 4! :D I bet you all thought I was giving up on This. To that is say...AS IF!**

**I decided not to waste time with the elder Kikwi and the other Kikwis. I'm a little eager to get through this as soon as possible.**

**so...yeah. Enjoy! I own nothing. Enjoy!**

"So...what's dowsing?" I asked as we walked away from Machi.

Link glanced at me and unsheathed his sword. "I'll show you." He held his sword out before him, tip pointed to another slope-this one smaller than before-and, as I watched, the sword began to glow, as well as emit this slow beeping sound. He turned his body slightly to the right, and the beeping got stronger. "Let's go there."

"Impressive," I mumbled.

I followed him, fighting bat-like creatures called Keese, more of the red-skinned creatures-a whom Fi identified as Bokoblins-and weird goo creatures. We also encountered these plant creatures that spat rocks at us. Link used his shield to deflect the rocks back at them, effectively defeating them. Finally, we encountered this large plant creatures with a hard shell and snapping mouth. Fi called it a Deku Baba.

We swung across a cliff to another ledge, on which we found the Kikwi Elder. It wasn't hard, and though he was trying to hide, his disguise was...weak. He then sent us on a goose chase through the Faron woods to find three other Kikwi-Oolo, Lopsa, and Erla. Once we did that, he gave us a slingshot and told us where Zelda had gone.

Deeper into Faron woods.

We stopped in front of a temple-like structure, examining it. I could see a bird statue faintly over a railing, and smiled. Maybe I could contact Palutena. Link just had to pray at it. I looked at him. "Would you mind-?"

"I was going to anyway," he said before I could finish, making me wonder if he was psychic. Or if i was just predictable.

We entered, taking down another Bokoblin and making our way to the statue. After Link said a quick prayer, I set a hand on the statue. "Lady Palutena?"

"Hello, Pit," she said, the smile in her voice clear, "How are you?"

"Good," I said, "We're getting closer to her. Shouldn't be too long now."

"That's good," Palutena said.

I frowned. "Lady Palutena, is Pittoo...?"

"Still searching," she confirmed, "I've managed to keep him distracted, but I'm not sure he will be that way for long."

"I see. Well, alright," I said, "We'll be quick."

"Okay," she said, "Be careful."

"I will." I removed my head and looked at Link to find that he had used his slingshot to loosen a vine from a tree.

He looked at me as I approached. "Done?"

"Yup," I said, "after you."

He rolled his eyes and hopped onto the vine. He swung back and forth until he built up enough momentum to jump off and land on the ledge that would take us to the deeper Faron Woods area.

I followed his movements, having to try twice before making he landing. As I followed Link, I paused, feeling eyes on my back. I turned to see if anyone was behind us, but saw nothing; only faint colored shapes-diamonds I think-were behind us. I disregarded it, deciding to worry about it later, and followed Link.

Inside deeper Faron woods, we defeated more Bokoblins, narrowly avoided being stung by a nest of angry hornets whose nest Link was forced to shoot down, and met up with Gorko beside a stone block. Intricate designs decorated the stone, and we listened as Gorko explained what it was. He called it a "Goddess Cube" and said something about it being left for the goddess's chosen hero. The words made me glance at Link momentarily.

Gorko mentioned something about a light from a heavenly blade, and Link seemed to realize what that meant. He turned to the cube and unsheathed his sword. He held it up, the tip pointing towards the sky. An orb of light traveled down the blade, starting at the tip and going to the pommel. Then the entire blade was wreathed with a pinkish light. Link narrowed his eyes at the box and swung.

An arc of the light emerged from his blade, striking the cube. It lit up, vanishing into an orb, and shot into the sky, disappearing from our sight.

Gorko, once again, got excited, and when we walked away, I turned to Link and asked "Since when could you do that?!"

Link frowned at me. "I've always been able to. I just haven't used it much."

After activating one more Goddess Cube, we arrived in front of the temple. By then, night had fallen. After praying at the Goddess Statue in front of the temple, Link fell asleep. I leaned against the statue, looking at the sky. "Good night, lady Palutena."

"Good night, Pit," lady Palutena said. I smiled as I closed my eyes, falling into a light sleep.

**up next-the Skyview Temple. And maybe a little cameo by a certain someone~! I'll give a virtual cookie to whoever can accurately guess who I'm referring to.**

**Anyway, see that little button that says "Review this Chapter"? Click it please! Sayonara~!**


	5. Enter the Demon Lord

**woo! Another update! :D and this time, we get a surprise entrance from a (maybe) unexpected person! Don't have much to say, so...enjoy! I own nothing!**

*thunk*

"Ow!" I shot into a position, hands pressing against the aching part of my head as I groaned. I peeked open my blue eyes, looking at the blond before me. "What was that for?!"

"Well, if you'd woken up sooner," Link said, shrugging.

I sighed and stood up. "No need to push me, though."

He shrugged and looked at the door to the temple. "I did some exploring before I woke you up. I know how to open the door."

Looking at him curiously, I followed him up the steps until we stood before the door. He took out his slingshot and aimed upward, towards a pink gem on the ceiling. He shot a nut at it, and it split into four spinning crystals. They stopped spinning and turned grey, and the door slid open, a cold, damp breeze emerging from within.

"You first," Link said, a light smirk on his lips.

"You're the hero," I said, "you go first."

"You afraid?" He asked, taking a few steps down.

"Of course not!" I said, following.

. . . . . .

Dark Pit grit his teeth, hidden within the stalls of the stables where Phos and Lux were kept. He knew Palutena was lying to him. She knew exactly where Pit was, and he wasn't going to let her stop him from finding his light half.

Thanks to eavesdropping on the goddess, though, he had a vague idea of where he was to go to find him.

He stood up, ignoring the unicorns' stares, and left. "Viridi," he mumbled, hating what he was about to asked, "Mind helping me fly?"

"Give me one good reason," Viridi responded.

Dark Pit sighed. Damn Pandora for reviving herself at the Rewind Spring. He sort of missed being able to fly on his own. "I asked nicely?"

"Hm. True. Fine." Dark Pit sighed in relief, feeling his wings light up with the ability to fly. Jumping upwards, he flapped his wings and flew through the skies, hoping he could be able to find what he needed to.

He kept his eyes open for what it was he was searching for. As he did so, he thought back to that day, roughly a month and a half after Hades was defeated for good. The day that...

'No,' he thought, shaking his head, 'Don't think about it.'

He looked ahead of him, noticing a ripple in the sky before him. It would have been unnoticeable if not for a distortion in an innocent puffy cloud floating just behind it.

'Could that be...?'

He flew towards it and reached out, watching his hand pass through. He paused. Passing through, who knew where he would end up. Maybe this wasn't a good idea.

Before he could change his mind, poisonous purple wisps of magic emerged from the ripple, wrapping around his limbs. He cried out in shock as the magic pulled him in, processing only stone, cold, and white and red before passing out.

. . . . . .

"I hate those things. I really do."

"Agreed," Link mumbled, staring down into the pit where the spider-sorry, Skulltula-fell after he defeated it. We have navigated this temple for what feels like forever, fighting more Deku Babas, green Bokoblins-at which point I joked about running into white ones and he rolled his eyes-more Skulltulas, Keese, and got trapped in a room with a skeletal creature that I can't remember the name of. Stal-something. We obtained a new object, a gold and green beetle shaped thing that has helped us through various puzzles, a map to navigate the temple and dealt with creepy eye things that had to be defeated in unison, and just had to be made dizzy via Link's sword or my samurai blade.

We jumped over the pit into the next area, and a grueling obstacle-course** t**ype thing with vines, swinging, Bokoblin defeating and more, we obtained what we needed to advance-a key shaped more like some sort of strange sculpture.

We made our way to the large doors of the the boss room. After figuring the key out and pressing it in, the door opened inwards and we advanced into a large circular room. The door closed behind us with a large slam, and the air immediately grew cold. Evidently unaffected, Link proceeded forward, eyes trained on the gold door across from us. Halfway there, though, a bright flash blinded us. When it faded, standing before the door was a figure in white and red, his back to us, a black sword in his hand. He swung his sword up, as if to hit the door, then paused. A cold chuckle echoed in the room as he sword dissolved and he relaxed.

"Well, look who it is," a cold voice said, coming from the figure's direction. He turned to look at us. He had greyish skin, white lips, dark eyes with purple circles under them, and a pointed ear with a blue diamond earring. Diamond white hair fell in a curtain to his half of his face. "I thought that tornado I stirred up would've tossed and torn you apart. Yet here you are. Not in pieces."

He turned his dark eyes to me. "And you. A winged, human-like creature. Not common in this place. But then, you aren't from here, are you?"

I tensed, frowning. "How did you-?"

He looked back at Link momentarily, then looked back at the door. "Not that your life or death has any consequence. It's just the girl that matters now, and I can sense her here...just beyond this door."

Link perked up. "Zelda," he murmured, almost inaudible.

"Yes, we plucked Her Majesty from her perch in the clouds, and now she's ours." He paused, seeming to realize something. "Oh, but listen to me. I'm being positively uncivil. Allow me to introduce myself." He lowered his head. "I am the demon lord who presides over this land you look down on, this world you call the surface." He tossed his hair back. "You may call me Ghirahim. In truth, I very much prefer to be indulged with my full title: Lord Ghirahim. But I'm not fussy."

I looked at Link, our eyes meeting, and nodded. I held my samurai blade out as Link drew his sword and shield, both of us glaring at Ghirahim.

Ghirahim chuckled darkly. "Did you really just draw your sword? Foolish boy." He turned to face us, and i got a good look at his attire-a white jumpsuit with diamond cuts down the legs and on the abdomen with a single strap over one shoulder, white gloves with similar diamond cuts, a yellow belt with a large red diamond (geez, what's with all the diamonds?) and a heavy red cape with a chain on the collar, a high collar, and a yellow and black diamond pattern on the underside.

He held out his arms. "By all rights, that girl should have fallen into our hands already." His expression sours, and he curled inwards on himself. "She was nearly ours when that loathsome servant of the goddess snatched her away," he spat, "Do you have any idea how that made me feel inside?"

"Upset?" I asked.

He flailed angrily, the lights of the room seeming to flicker due to his magic. "FURIOUS! OUTRAGED!" He yelled, "SICK WITH ANGER!" He teleported, a bunch of diamonds appearing in his place and slowly dissolving, and the room calmed.

Link and I glanced at each other, shocked, then desperately looked around for some sign of the demon.

"This turn of events has left me with a strong appetite for bloodshed," his voice said, seeming to come from nowhere, echoing in the vast chamber.

Suddenly, I heard Link gasp and turned, jumping back in surprise when I saw that Ghirahim had managed to get right behind Link, and had his head over Link's shoulder at what must have been an unnervingly close distance.

"Still," he mused, suddenly just a little calmer, "It hardly seems fair, being of my position, to take all of my anger out on you." I rose an eyebrow. Was I suddenly invisible over here?! "Which is why I promise up front not to murder you..." He chuckled again. "No, I'll just beat you within an inch of your life!" He stuck out a long, red tongue, and Link, looking thoroughly disturbed, darted away from him and held his sword out, facing the demon.

Ghirahim chuckled, his cape disappearing into diamonds. He looked at Link and frowned. "Oh, silly me. In my anger, I'd almost forgotten." He turned his gaze to me. "Two on one isn't exactly fair, and while I could take the both of you, I'd rather not waste my time taking you both down. So I went out of my way to bring a companion for you to battle."

"Bring it!" I said, holding up my samurai blade, "I can take them."

He smirked. "Oh, I wouldn't be so quick to say that. In fact, who I've brought just might look...familiar." He snapped, a figure forming between him and myself, and I gasped at who it was.

Shadowy teal wings, black tunic, black hair, gold laurel crown. The only difference were his eyes, different from what I knew would be ruby red. Instead, they were completely a venomous purple color.

"P-PITTOO?!"

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	6. Boss Battle and Back To The Sky

**Heya guys! :D**

**ehehe...I know it's been a while. I swear I've been meaning to update! It's just...life gets in the way, y'know? What makes it worse is I've had this chapter prepared and ready to post the whole time. Oops.**

**well, I hope y'all enjoy it anyway. Remember, I don't own a thing.**

I heard Ghirahim's chuckle, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Link's confused expression. But I couldn't bring myself to lift my eyes from Pittoo. He looked so distant, so cold. So...wrong.

"Pittoo..." I murmured.

Pittoo held out a hand. Materializing in his palm was a silver bow, which he curled his fingers around**.** He separated it into two small blades, and lunged.

I jumped back, trying to avoid the swinging silver blades. I parried with my blade, holding the blades up. Our faces were close, and I could see his eyes clearly. The toxic purple covered everything. There was no white, no iris, no pupil. Nothing but that sickly purple color.

"Pittoo!" I said, "Snap out of it! I don't want to fight you!"

He growled and pushed me back, dislodging his blades. I deflected them, and swung, forcing him to jump back to avoid being hit.

With an almost animalistic growl, he darted forward**,** slicing in a fury. I struggled to dodge and deflect, getting several scratches on my arms as a result. The fury tired him out eventually, and the strikes lessened to almost nothing. Taking advantage of this, I lashed out, kicking his stomach and slicing with the blade.

He jumped back, but just barely in time, with the tip of the blade creating a small cut on his cheek. He glared at me with those cold eyes and reconnected the blades, using the bow.

I cried out in alarm jumping back barely in time to avoid being hit by arrows. I rolled out of the way and tried to find a way around them.

Lifting my eyes, I saw Link using his sword to deflect glowing red projectiles, sending them back at Ghirahim. Maybe...

I landed on my feet and swung at an arrow. The arrow fizzled out of existence.

Not what I was hoping for, but it worked.

I timed my strikes to hit the arrows, destroying a good few before he decided to switch back to blades.

Back and forth we fought in a cycle, seeming almost endless. But, finally, during a final fury, I took him out, kicking him back and slashing, tearing open his tunic and creating a thin, diagonal slash on his chest.

He cried out, shuddering, and fell silent, passing out. I frowned in confusion and turned, seeing Ghirahim, wiping his chin and glaring at Link. Had Link won? Was that why Pittoo fainted? Because Ghirahim lost?

Ghirahim pointed his sword at Link. "Well..." He mused, panting a bit, "You put up more of a fight than I would have thought possible out of such a soft boy." He sneered. "But don't clap for yourself quite yet. That sword of yours is the only reason you still live." He lowered his sword slightly, tilting his head towards the golden door behind him. "I fear I spent far too log teasing and toying with you. The girl's presence has all but faded from this place, which means there's no reason to linger here."

I frowned. Then...she was gone? I looked at Link, seeing the disbelief in his eyes.

"Goodbye, Sky-child," Ghirahim said, "Run and play this time. Get in my way again, though, and you're dead." He glared at me. "Same goes for you, little angel."

My wings flared in annoyance at the nickname. Before I could say anything, though, he swung his sword in a circle and disappeared in a flash of diamonds, Pittoo's body following shortly.

The room brightened, and in a flash, a heart laced with gold patterns fell from the ceiling and rested on the ground. Link, battered and likely bruised, walked forward and touched the heart. He let out a sigh as the cuts and bruises healed instantly.

I walked forward, and he glanced at me. "Come on." He headed towards the door, which flashed and disappeared as we neared, revealing a staircase.

We went up the stairs and emerged in a gorgeous clearing. Waterfalls endlessly filled a large pond, upon which blue butterflies and red lights flew and danced along the surface. Link and I walked along the stone platform towards the edge, across from which was a statue similar to that of the one Palutena showed me-except much smaller-rested.

He stood by the ledge, an area with a symbol similar to the one resting at the statue's feet across the way. He unsheathed his sword and rose it to the sky. Once it was charged up, he swung down, letting an arc of energy fly to the bird like symbol.

The symbol lit up and spun a few times, then slowed to a stop and flashed. Link sheathed his sword and faced the statue, and within a few moments, Fi emerged and floated before us, her toes barely touching the water and causing slight ripples.

"Master," she said, "I have a message written in the language of the gods of old. Allow me to translate for you." She began to...dance, moving about the clearing as she spoke.

"From the edge of time I guide you, the one chosen to carry out the goddess's mission. The spirit maiden who descended from the clouds must travel to two sacred places to purify her body. You stand in one of these places: Skyview Spring. The other is known as the Earth Spring." She came to a stop before us, spinning with her cloak like arms above her. "The second is hidden away deep within the scorched earth of Eldin. The spirit maiden, ever mindful of the heavy task entrusted to her, has set out for the second sacred place."

Just above the hands of the statue, a flash appeared as she finished speaking. The glowing light floated forward into Link's arms and faded, revealing a weathered, old tablet with a red stone set in it. He put it away and we turned, facing Fi, who had stopped behind us. After a moment, she returned to the sword, and we left the temple.

Outside of the temple, Machi was waiting. I let Link go talk to him, heading for the bird statue and sitting against it. "Lady Palutena?"

"Hello, Pit," Palutena's cheery voice greeted, "How are things?"

"We lost her," I said, "We got so close, but it just wasn't enough."

"Oh. Well, that's fine," Palutena said, "You know where to go to find her, right?"

"Yeah, but...that isn't what i wanted to talk about." I sighed. "Lady Palutena...we met with a new enemy. One who...who kidnapped Pittoo and turned him against me.

Lady Palutena fell silent momentarily. Then she said "He...what? Pittoo?"

"You didn't notice him vanish?" I asked.

"Well...no, but..."

"I did!"

I perked up. "Viridi?"

Viridi sounded sheepish. "Well, actually, it may kind of be my fault."

"How so?" Palutena asked.

"I was just letting him use the power of flight. All of a sudden, he just disappeared. I couldn't sense him anymore." She sighed. "I don't know how or why."

"There has to be some way to free him from this demon's influence," I said.

"We'll find a way," Palutena said.

I looked up as a shadow fell over me, seeing Link offering me a hand. I took it and stood up. Once I was up, he let me go and looked up at the sky. "I have to leave for a bit."

"I do too, actually," I said.

"Why haven't you left yet?" Link asked curiously, looking at me.

I blushed in embarrassment. "...I can't. I'm kinda stuck here."

Link rose an eyebrow. "You are?"

I nodded. "I kinda...can't fly..." I spoke quietly, swallowing.

"You have wings but can't fly?" He asked. At my nod, he sighed and held out a hand. I took it curiously, and before I could process it, he pulled me close, wrapping an arm around my body. "Grab on to me, and hold on tightly.

My cheeks felt warm as I wrapped my arms around his neck. I watched as he prayed at the statue. Suddenly, it lit up, an orange beam extending into the sky. A heavy breeze surrounded us, and Link quickly pulled out a white cloth with the bird like symbol in blue stitched into it. The breeze filled the cloth, and we were pulled high up into the sky until we were past the cloud barrier.

I pushed away from Link, and I heard him whistle and watched him disappear in a blur of red and green before Palutena whisked me away, returning me to Skyworld.

"Welcome back," she said cheerily, though it seemed forced.

"Thanks," I said, tired. I opened the door beside me, finding the weapon room, and put my blade away. Then I left, closing the door and walking through the halls to the hot springs. I needed to rest and relax.

**If y'all see any errors I may have missed in editing, feel free to mention it. I'd appreciate it. Now... See that little button that says "Review this Chapter?" Click it please! Sayonara~!**


	7. Welcome to Eldin

**Hey!**

**so...there's probably a bit of OoC-ness in the chapter. Sorry. It really isn't very easy to keep people IC sometimes. ^^; I tried. Hope you guys enjoy anyway! I obviously own nothing.**

**also, I apologize for the long wait. I've been having a few technological problems. ^^; but with that said, I will try to update more. For now, enjoy!**

Two days and a few relaxing hours in the hot springs later, I was ready to return to Hyrule. I went to the weapons room, this time picking out a pair of Stealth Claws. Placing them on my hands, I began heading for the door. "I'm ready to go, Lady Palutena!"

"Alright, Pit!" The door opened and I jumped out, once more in the skies surrounding Skyloft. Palutena activated the power of flight, and I was soaring around the big blue sky. I noticed something different, as I did-a huge pillar of red that tore a hole in the clouds, just like the green light. That made two holes in the clouds now.

"Link hasn't left Skyloft quite yet, but he's getting ready to," Palutena said, "So we'll wait for him to."

"While we are," Viridi's voice asked, "Why is Pit helping him in the first place?"

I frowned. "Wait, I thought you said you overheard us talking."

"Well...I lied a little," she replied, "I only heard the bit about needing my help to talk to your precious goddess. I didn't hear anything else."

Palutena sighed. "Viridi...do you remember my sister?"

There was a moment of silence before Viridi spoke again. "You mean Hylia? The Hylia who disappeared mysteriously thousands of years ago?"

"She didn't disappear, Viridi," Palutena said, "That was a lie. Hylia didn't want the other gods to know what she was really doing, so she had me lie and tell you all that she disappeared mysteriously."

"Then what happened to her?" Viridi asked, sounding curious.

"She gave up her immortal form," Palutena said.

There was a long pause after that. I counted to around four or five seconds before Viridi spoke again.

"SHE WHAT?!" The goddess of nature practically shrieked.

"Ow!" I said, "My ears!"

"Shut it, Pit," Viridi said, "I need answers!"

"She gave up her immortal form," Palutena repeated.

"But why?!" Viridi asked. "She was beautiful, she was strong, she ruled over her own entire realm, for Pit's sake!"

"Hey!" I said. Viridi ignored me.

"Why would she even thing of doing something as stupid as giving up-?!"

"Because she didn't have a choice!" Palutena snapped, sounding angrier than I ever heard her. Viridi shut right up, and after a moment, Palutena sighed. "Look, Viridi. There was this evil thousands of years ago that threatened her realm. She sealed it away, but the seal wouldn't have held long. She came up with a plan, part of which involved her giving up her immortal form to strengthen the seal. She's been reborn in the mortal girl Zelda, and with Zelda's life in danger, Pit is helping Link make sure my sister is safe and also making sure the evil stays sealed away."

"Oh..." Viridi sounded like she wanted to say more, but Palutena spoke before she could.

"Pit, Link is leaving Skyloft! He's headed for the next area!"

"Eh?" I looked in the direction of the red pillar, but didn't see anything. "Palutena, I don't-"

"He's too far away for you to see," She said, "Hold on; we'll catch up!"

"W-wait, I-! WOAH!" I exclaimed, surprised, and Palutena moved me towards the beacon with more speed than I was prepared for. Even with the speed, we got them in time to see Link's Loftwing flying away, his owner nowhere in sight. Within moments I was above the hole in the clouds.

"Ready?" Palutena asked.

"Ready!" I said. With a flap of my wings I angled myself downwards, flying through the cloud. Palutena maintained the connection for as long as she could, but at a few feet above the grounds the connection between us gave out, and I ended up falling flat on my face. "Ow..."

"Pit?"

I sat up and shook my head quickly, rubbing my face to remove dust from the ground. Then I looked up, seeing Link looking at me curiously. "Oh, hey Link."

Link rose an eyebrow as I stood up. "Where's your weapon?" He asked.

"Right here," i said, lifting my hands to show him the claws. At least, the parts of the claws that weren't invisible.

He looked at me skeptically. "Really."

I nodded. "Yeah. Just try to hit me."

He took out his sword. "Alright." With a yell, he swung the sword up, then downwards towards me. I lifted my hands and crossed my claws, parrying the sword. The impact of the sword on my claws made them temporarily visible.

"See?" I asked.

He pulled his sword away and sheathed it, looking at my hands curiously. "Interesting."

I frowned. "Aw, come on. You could try to look a little more impressed."

Link smiled slightly. "Maybe next time. For now we need to focus on finding Zelda."

"Right, I know," I said, taking a moment to look around. That's when I realized where we were.

We were at the foot of a volcano.

I could feel the heat in the air from the pools of lava all over, and knew without a doubt that this place would be suck. I could already feel myself starting to sweat.

"A volcano?" I groaned lightly. "Aw, man!"

Link chuckled. "I know." He then grew serious again. "Let's go. The more time we spend wasting here, the more and more likely it is Zelda is in trouble."

"Yeah, yeah," I mumbled, "lead the way."

...

One and a half days.

That's how long he estimated he had been chained in this boiling room. There was some kind of skeleton above him, and he could see the faint glow of lava from where he sat, chained by his ankle to the ground. There were numerous strange heart-shaped plants surrounding them, just out of his reach. There were also weird looking blue flowers with...was that a fuse on top?

At the moment, Dark Pit sat against the closest wall, eyes closed. He wasn't asleep. Rather, he wanted to appear so. If there was a chance hat whatever had captured him was stupid enough to come close to him the next time they were in the area, Dark Pit might be able to escape. Though, considering the creatures were smart enough to confiscate his bow, he got the feeling it wouldn't be so simple.

He forced himself to seem relaxed as he heard approaching noises. One caught his attention and gave him pause. A voice. A girl?

He listened as she was pulled into the area he was in and seemingly shackled up before being left. After a few moments, Dark Pit opened his eyes, quickly finding the girl.

She had long blond hair with a couple strands bound in colorful bands over her shoulders and bright blue eyes that examined her ankle shackle. She wore a long white dress, sandals and wrist bands, both of which were as colorful as the bands her hair was in.

It took only a moment for her to look up and notice him, and she jumped slightly once she had. Not expecting another person? Guess that wasn't a big surprise. He sat, waiting for her to speak.

"Y-your trapped too?" She asked, eyes trailing to the ankle shackle he wore.

Dark Pit only nodded in response.

"Who are you?" She asked. "Why are you here?"

"Name's Dark Pit," Dark Pit mumbled. What was the point in lying? "And I don't know."

"Oh..." The girl nodded. "I see. I'm Zelda. It's nice to meet you." She seemed to hesitate a moment. "If I may ask, Dark Pit...what are you?"

Dark Pit rose an eyebrow. That name sounded familiar... "What? Never seen an Angel before?"

Zelda shook her head. "No."

Dark Pit frowned. That was odd. After Hades' defeat, every human knew who Pit was. And it was common knowledge of what Pit was. "Seriously?"

Zelda nodded. "Yeah."

Dark Pit frowned, saying nothing. Well, it didn't really matter.

Zelda frowned as well, looking down at the chain her ankle was bound to. "I...I failed. I was supposed to...but I got captured..." She sighed. "B-but Link will come find me. I know he will."

"Link...?" Suddenly it clicked. Why this girl's name was familiar. She was the one Pit was helping find. That explained why she had no idea what angels were. Figures.

"My best friend," Zelda said, answering a question he didn't ask. "He'll find me, I know he will. And he'll save you too."

And with him...Dark Pit could finally find Pit and talk to him.

All he had to do was wait.

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	8. The Sooner The Better

**Heya guys! Another chapter for y'all! :D and I've also started using chapter names. 'Cause why not?**

**question. Should I skip through the earth temple and get right to the boss battle? Should I detail the temple and leave the boss fight for the chapter after next? I wanna know your guys' opinion before I start writing the next chapter, and I might also do this with upcoming temples. If people want me to skip through certain temples and detail others, that's what I'll do! Let me know in the reviews!**

**Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I own nothing, of course!**

Traveling through the volcano was exactly as painful as I thought it would be. Sure, there were some interesting things-meeting these weird mole creatures who loved treasure called Mogmas. The two we met, named Ledd and Cobal, seemed particularly interested in my gold laurel crown. I was a bit glad to get away from those guys. We also discovered these huge blue flowers called bomb flowers. When picked up, the fuse was automatically lit and the flower could be rolled, placed or thrown into position before they went off. Pretty neat.

Anyways, after that, more lava, more fire, a cavern in which Link got these claws meant to help him dig like a mogma, and a lightly singed angel wing or two, we arrived at a cliff. There was a second cliff directly across from it, and a large pit of lava in between.

"Okaay, any ideas?" I asked.

Link frowned thoughtfully. "There might be a switch on the other side," he said. "But it's too far for me to jump." He looked at me. "Can you keep yourself above the ground a little longer than normal with your wings?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

He stands back and holds a hand out. "After you."

I realized what he wanted and sighed. "If I become a fried angel, it's your fault." I took a step back, intending to take a running start.

Suddenly, much to our surprise, a stone slab began sliding from the other side, sliding forward until it met the side we were on and stopping, creating a bridge for us to use. Immediately after it did, we heard a voice. "You, the goddess's chosen hero..."

We looked up at the archway, seeing a figure on top. The lower half of her face as well as most of her body was hidden by the black and gold cloak, and the distance made it difficult to make out any significant features, but I could at least make out though that her skin was tanned and her hair was blond.

"Zelda is ahead," she said, "hurry." I felt her gaze pierce me like daggers for a moment, then she turned her back to us an jumped, disappearing from sight.

"...okay, that was weird." I looked at Link. "Any idea who that was?"

Link shook his head. "No, but she mentioned Zelda."

"On our side, then?" I muttered.

Link nodded and grabbed my wrist, dragging my across when I wasn't prepared for it. "Let's go. The sooner the better."

After a quick stop to pray at a goddess statue, we continued further up the volcano. We had to run up sandy dunes, avoiding boulders that Bokoblins threw down to knock us back to the bottom. Link was able to use his slingshot to make them drop the boulders on themselves. After fighting off more of them, blowing up a tower to create a bridge, more climbing and more running up sand dunes while avoiding boulders, we made it to our destination just in time I hear two familiar mogmas talking. Well, Link did. I ended up slipping, falling back down the cliff and having to make my way up again.

When I finally joined up, the mogma were gone and Fi had just finished addressing Link, who looked at me. "Good news or bad news?"

I panted quietly, trying to regain my breath from the run and the heat. "Bad news."

"The key to the temple had been split into separate pieces that we have to track down and put back together."

I let out a slight groan. "Then what's the good news?!"

"Fi can dowse for the pieces," he said simply.

I sighed. "Lead the way," I muttered unhappily. This was going to suck.

...

Dark Pit looked up as a loud squeak rang through the room. Up until then, he and Zelda had been mostly quiet. They'd exchanged some small talk, mostly at Zelda's insistence, but at that point she'd been reduced to tugging at the ankle shackle in an attempt to escape while Dark Pit sat against the wall and watched.

"...sent to master?" A voice asked as the pigfaced creatures that had trapped them came in in a small group.

One of them nodded. "Yes. He's on his way now."

Another one, wearing a purple bandana, nodded. "Good," he said. "He'll be pleased that me captured her."

One of them snorted as they stopped a short distance away from their two prisoners. "What about the winged one?"

"I can hear you," Dark Pit snapped, being promptly ignored, much to his annoyance.

"Master is the one who brought him here," the bandana one said. "Master decides his fate."

"I wanna crack his skull," the one in he very back whined, quickly yelping as one of his buddies smack the back of his head.

"Quiet, you fool," he snapped.

The bandana on moved towards Zelda. "Little goddess...you will-!" A flash of magic through his skull ended him quickly, his body falling to the floor.

His companions panicked and looked around for the source of the magic, and one by one they were felled until they all lay in the ground defeated, their bodies slowly turning to purple smoke and vanishing.

Dark and Zelda, both watching the display, looked around in amazement before their eyes fell on an appearing woman with tanned skin and burning red eyes.

"Your grace," she said. "I've finally found you."

...

I sighed as we finally reached the door after the agonizing chase to find all of the key pieces. "Ugh, that took way too long!"

Link, holding the reassembled key in his hand, shrugged. "The slope sliding was kind of fun, I think."

"A little bit," I said, "But still. It would've been nicer without all of the lava."

"We're in a volcano."

"Your point?"

Link sighs and shakes his head, turning back to the door and pressing the key into where it had to go.

The lock, the key firmly in place, spun a few times, lifting the bar that locked the door. The door slid open, and an intense blast of hot air rushed past us. We covered out faces and took a few steps forward, standing at the top of the staircase that led into the temple.

"After you," I said quietly.

"Dreading this?" Link asked.

"Did you feel that heat? How can I not?!" I asked.

Link hummed, taking the first step down. "The sooner the better."

"So you've said," I muttered before following him into the earth temple.

**remember guys, let me know what you want me to do next chapter in the reviews! So that means, see that little button that says "Review this Chapter?" Click it please! Sayonara!**


	9. Of Lava Spiders and Harsh Words

**yay, new chapter!**

**so I decided to skip past most of this temple, only going into a bit of detail about how it could have worked. Idk, I just thought it would be better. Less boring.**

**Either way, I hope you enjoy! I own nothing!**

Volcano temples suck.

The beginning was simple enough-Link used the beetle to cut these ropes to lower a gate so we could advance. After that it got worse. We were confronted by this weird lizard-like monster with a well-armored arm and a tail with a spiked ball at the end called a Lizalfos. That ball hurt like hell.

After that it didn't get better. There was no way to advance further except to blow up a submerged statue, which left behind a large stone orb that became our way of navigating the lava-filled temple. After a bit of time and several near falls into the lava, we figured out how we would navigate at the same time-we had to hold on to each other tightly, moving our opposite feet at the same time, my left with his right and vice versa. It was uncomfortable, especially with the heat if the lava around us, but we managed.

The next room was a giant puzzle, so to make things easier, Link navigated the room to activate the switches that would open our path while I waited on the stone platform in the middle, waiting and helping in the areas that didn't require using the stone orb to navigate.

After a long while, he finally solved it, an we moved on-without the stone orb-to a hall featuring steep slopes and boulders that would be released as we made our way up and would roll down to knock us down. We didn't realize it at first, but we quickly learned the error of our lack of caution. I managed to jump into an opening in the wall of the slope. Link...was not so lucky, being knocked down by a boulder and narrowly falling into a pool of lava. After that, we navigated more cautiously, even pausing at the second slope's bottom so Link could find a way to clear a blocked opening in the wall.

After that tiring, bruise-filled hall, we arrived on a circular platform. We could see the door we had to go through, but a dragon head spewing a waterfall of lava-lavafall?-prevented us from going there. There was another long hall, which we navigated. The large room was intimidating, and the thin walkway led up to the chest we knew would hold the key forward. We didn't realize the dangers until we had the key and were beginning to move back down the walkway, when a giant boulder came from nowhere and began rolling after us. We ran the rest if the way down, hopping back into the circular platform. The boulder flew off of he walkway into the mouth if the dragon head, cutting off the flow of lava and clearing our path. The dragon head also snapped closed, as if it had swallowed the boulder.

We unlocked the door and entered a large room, walking along a walkway and pausing when we heard a strange sound and saw an odd sight-the boulder rolling along a long, skeletal ribcage on the roof. We kept walking, reaching a circular platform with numerous heart flowers, a couple bomb flowers, and two sets of abandoned chains.

As we approached the chains, Fi emerged from the sword, floating before us. "Master, I detect Zelda's aura in the surrounding area," she says, "As well as a second, unfamiliar aura." She turns to the chain on Link's left. "I detect an especially strong reaction from this chain for Zelda's aura. I calculate the probability Zelda was bound by it recently at 95%." She turns to the chain on my right. "The unfamiliar aura is strongest on that chain. I estimate the same probability that whoever the unfamiliar aura belongs to was bound to it recently as well."

Link frowned. "So she was here with someone else."

Fi tilted her head downwards a bit. "I surmise Zelda and the unknown figure were somehow able to escape and proceed along this path. I suggest we continue with all possible speed." With that she disappeared into the sword.

I frowned. "An unfamiliar figure. Would it be possible...?"

"Your lookalike?" Link suggested.

"That's what I think," I said. "So Zelda might be with Pittoo."

"Let's go find them," Link said.

I followed him up some steps, off the platform and up yet another slope. Halfway up the slope, though, we heard a familiar chuckle coming from the dragon head that watched over the room.

Sure enough, standing right on top of the head was none other than Ghirahim.

"Oh, it's you two," he said once our attention was on him. He paused. "Let me see...No, that's not it. This is so very embarrassing, but I seem to be at a loss for your names."

"We never gave them to him," I muttered to Link, who nodded in agreement. Ghirahim either didn't notice or chose to ignore it as he continued to speak.

"Not that it matters, really. To tell you the truth, I'm feeling a bit frustrated, and right now I just need someone to vent to."

"And we're the unlucky souls," Link said, causing me to chuckle and nod. Once again, Ghirahim ignored it and continued to talk.

"I heard my underlings had finally captured the spirit maiden," he said, waving his hand a bit before resting it on his chest. "So of course is rushed over here. What can I said? I was excited. Flustered, even..." His body visibly tensed, his voice growing quiet, though still audible. "But what did I find when I arrived? That agent of the goddess...She had once again..." His voice quieted to the point of being almost inaudible to Link and I on the ground. "You see, what in trying to say is..." He grew loud again, a growl in his voice as he yelled "THAT GODDESS-SERVING DOG ESCAPED WITH THE GIRL! I MUST have the spirit maiden in order to resurrect my master! I MUST HAVE HER!"

Link and I exchanged glances. Zelda was safe, then. And so was Pittoo. But who was this "agent" Ghirahim had mentioned?

Ghirahim paused, seeming to regain control over himself. "...I got a little carried away there, didn't i? I don't deal well with...complications to plans I've laid out so carefully. It's a character flaw of mine." I could see a wicked grin settle on his face even from this distance, and a slight chuckle left him. "Ah, but something good can still come from this day! I've had all this bottled-up anger smoldering inside me, and now I can release it!"

"Three guesses on how so," I said to Link, who snorted lightly.

"I only need one," he said in reply.

Ghirahim's gaze settled specifically on Link, as if I didnt exist. "There's someone special I'd like you to meet. Oh, don't be shy! I need to vent all this unhealthy anger, and your agony is such a great stress reliever." He paused. "And if your little angel friend suffers as well? Even better!"

"Gee, thanks," I muttered quietly.

"It won't take more than a few moments with my friend before you two are charred to a satisfying crisp. And let me tell you, that will put a spring in my step!" With those words, he lifted a hand an snapped his fingers, disappearing into a flurry of multicolored diamonds.

As soon as he was gone, the jaw of the dragon head he had been standing on opened, and the boulder fell out and started rolling down towards us. We ran separate ways, ducking away from the boulder as it passed us and rolled to a stop at the bottom. The crumbled but somehow still held together boulder suddenly sprouted six legs of lava, pushin itself up to stand in a spider like fashion. Once it was up, it roared, igniting with flames that I could feel from halfway up the ramp.

"Run!" Link yelled, already starting to head for the top of the ramp.

Didn't have to tell me twice.

The spider thing followed us up the ramp. Near the top, where a couple of bomb flowers were growing, it stepped on one and caused it to explode. The legs retreated inside of it's body, and Link and I watched it roll to the halfway point on the ramp before the legs reappeared. It inhaled a long breath, and after a moment spat a fireball at us, which we dodged.

"Any ideas?" I asked.

It took a couple moments of thinking and staring at the spider as it prepared to chase us once more before he nodded. "One." He took the bomb flower bag off of his belt and handed it to me. "When it's charging up the fireball, throw these into it's mouth. I'll handle the rest."

I nodded, taking the bag. "Right."

We waited until it had stepped in the bomb flower again, then followed it as it rolled down the ramp. When it stopped and started to inhale, I pulled a bomb from the bag and threw it at the spider. It swallowed the bomb, which exploded inside of it, stunning it and knocking off enough of the rocky shell to expose a weak point for Link to slash as much as he could before the spider recovered.

We continued this pattern of me throwing bombs and Link hitting the weak point for what felt like a long while. When finally the creature gave a last roar and collapsed, disappearing into diamonds and purple smoke, Link and I both suffered slight burns.

Link grabbed the heart container, being instantly healed, and looked at me. "Let's go."

I nodded, handing him the bomb bag and panting. "Yeah."

We proceeded up the ramp and Ito the door at the top, entering the spring. The sound of a harp filled our ears as we looked around and, at the top of the stairs, we found the source-Zelda.

She was flanked by Pittoo and a strange figure, and before them, a golden pillar of light manifested as she stopped playing. The figure urged her in, but Pittoo spoke up, saying "I'll make sure it's safe." Then he stepped through, faster than I could speak up to stop him. Zelda began to step forward next.

"Zelda..." Link breathed, taking a step forward.

Zelda paused and turned, spotting us. I watched as a smile spread on her face as the other figure turned to look at us as well.

Link smiled in relief, beginning to move forward. "Zelda!"

"Link!" Zelda said in return. She began to move forward, but a hand in her path stopped her, connected to an arm wound with bandages.

The figure beside her spoke, with the same voice as the cloaked figure from before. "You cannot go to him, Your Grace. Remember what we discussed. Restrain yourself. Focus on the task at hand."

Link stopped at the bottom of the stairs, and as I caught up, I saw the frown on his face. Zelda wore a similar frown, one that shifted into a determined look. She looked down at us, settling on me briefly before she turned her back to us. "I...i have to go," she said quietly over her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Link." Then she stepped into the pillar, disappearing.

Link inhaled a breath. "Wait, Zelda!" He called, running up the stairs and ignoring my cry if "Link, wait!"

The figure, who had been about to follow Zelda, turned and gave up a sharp look with powerful red eyes, stopping us in our tracks. She had tanned skin, short blond hair-except for several strands held together by red bands-and weird face tattoos-what looked like an exotic eye on her forehead and a white teardrop under one eye. Her clothing was dark blue, gold and black, exposing her shoulders and bandages arms. She held a hand out towards us.

"It took you far too long to get here," she said sharply. "Looking at you, I fear the goddess is mistaken in her choice of agents. If this failure is any indication, you have no hope of defending Her Grace from those who seek to assail her." Her eyes turned to me. "And you. The being of a different world. Sent here to help, and yet, Her Grace was caught and the enemy almost succeeded. What help are you?"

My wings flared. "Hey! This wasn't our fault!" I snapped. "We had to run all over the volcano to find a key, go through an entire temple, fight a giant lava rock spider-!"

She completely ignore my protests, acting as if I hadn't spoken at all as she looked at Link, who stared up at her with wide eyes. "Do my words anger you, boy? Do my words sting? Let them. If I had not come when I did, your Zelda would already have fallen into the hands of the enemy." She shook her head. "The truth if it is you were late. You were late, and you failed to protect her."

I took a glance at Link, who stared up at the woman as she continued to speak. "I sent Zelda ahead to learn more of the fate in which she is destined to play a part. Listen well, chosen one. You too, Angel of Palutena."

I immediately looked up the stairs in shock. "Y-you know Palutena?!" I asked. My question went unanswered.

"If you wish to be of help to Her Grace, you must summon a shred of courage and face the trials laid out before you. Only when you've conquered the trials will you be of use to Zelda. No sooner. Am I understood?"

Without waiting for a reply, the woman turned and entered the pillar, which immediately disappeared with her. Once it was gone, Link and I were left alone in the cavern, the only sounds being those of the birds and the waterfalls. After a few moments, Link made a quiet, frustrated sound and grabbed my wrist. "Come on," he said, pulling me along to the statue.

We crossed the platforms to the one before the statue of Hylia, and Link sent another arc of energy towards the bird-like symbol, which spun a few times before stopping. As Link sheathes his sword, Fi emerged from within, floating above the water's surface.

"Master, I have a message written in the language of the gods of old," she said. "Allow me to translate for you." She began to dance across the water's surface once more. "From the edge of time I guide you, the one destined to carry out the goddess's mission. The spirit maiden who descended from the clouds has passed through the Earth Spring and makes her way to a fated place." She came to a stop in front of us, twirling rapidly. "The parched desert of Lanayru...that is where the chosen will pass through the Gate of Time into a distant world." Once more, a light formed above the statue's hands, floating into Link's waiting arms before vanishing and revealing a large, weathered tablet with an amber gem embedded in it. Link put it away, turning to look at the statue once more, and a look of surprise developed on his face. I looked at the statue, but it looked the same as always. Nothing had changed.

"Link?" I asked. "Something wrong?"

Link looked at me and shook his head. "No," he said quietly, turning. "Let's go."

I followed him out of the temple, wrapping my arms around his neck as we returned to the sky. I pushed away from him as his loftwing picked him up and I was returned to Skyworld.

"Everything alright, Pit?" Palutena asked.

I gave a weak smile. "Yes, of course," I said. "Just need to relax in the springs, is all. I'm a little burnt."

Palutena hummed quietly, and I got the feeling she wasn't convinced. "Alright, if you say so."

I nodded, paying a quick visit to the weapon's room before heading to the springs. I wanted to asked about the woman, but without her name, Palutena wouldn't know who I was talking about. For now, I need to relax.

**See that little button that says "Review this Chapter?" Click it please! Sayonara!**


	10. Out of the Mines

**New chapter time~**

**i have so much inspiration for this story now! XD I doubt y'all are complaining though, right?**

**welp, I don't have much to say, so...enjoy! I own nothing.**

"Someone who knew me by name?"

I nodded. "Yes, lady Palutena. She specifically said 'Angel of Palutena.'"

It's been a day and a half since I returned to Skyworld. Rested and healed, I had decided to confront Palutena about that woman before Link continued on his journey, wondering how she could know what I was and who Palutena was even though neither of us were connected to her realm.

Palutena frowned, her clasped hands tightening where they rested in her lap. "I see...do you remember what she looked like?"

I nodded. "Yeah. She had darker skin, short blond hair-except for one lock-and these weird face tattoos. Oh, and red eyes."

She seemed to straighten at hearing the last bit. "Red eyes, you say? That explains it."

"Explains what?" I asked.

"How she knew me. She's a Sheikah."

I frowned, leaning forward a bit with my elbows on my knees. "A Sheikah? What's that?"

Palutena shakes her head, running her fingers through her long green hair. "They're an incredibly mysterious and secretive race if people. Even I myself only know three things about them: they're fiercely loyal to my sister, they're skilled in all sorts of ways of fighting, and they're near extinct."

I frowned. "Oh," I mumbled quietly.

She opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Viridi's voice. "I'm not sure if you two have realized it, but Link left Skyloft and is currently waiting for Pit on the surface."

Palutena frowned. "He did? I didn't feel his aura leaving Skyloft."

"Probably because you were a bit busy listening to Pit," she said.

I huffed and stood up. "Guess I better get ready to head down there, then."

Palutena nodded. "Yeah. We can continue discussing this woman at a later time."

I nodded and pushed myself up. "What weapon do you think I should take this time, Lady Palutena?"

The godded hummed quietly. "You've taken a blade and a pair of claws already. Maybe a staff? It could prove useful."

I nodded. "Alright!" I said, heading to the weapons room. I looked through the numerous staves hanging on one wall, eventually settling on deciding between the Scorpio staff and the Dark Pit staff. Part if me wanted to bring it, because it was pretty useful, but the Scorpio staff always was my favorite...

After a few moments of debate, I sighed and grabbed the Dark Pit staff, then turned, rushing out if the weapon room. "I'm ready, Lady Palutena!" I said, rushing towards the familiar set of doors.

"You know what to do!" Palutena replied.

I jumped out of the doors as they flew open, immediately feeling the power of flight taking effect. I took a look around, noticing a beam of yellow light among the clouds, creating a third hole in the clouds.

"This isn't gonna be fun," I mumbled.

"What make you think that?" Palutena asked.

"Fi mentioned a desert," I said.

Palutena hummed. "Oh. Well, I'm sure you can handle it." She chuckled at my slight whine as we stopped just at the edge of the light. "Come now, Pit, it won't be that bad. You survived in Hades' stomach. Compared to that, this should be a walk in the park."

"Thanks for the reminder," I muttered, shuddering.

She chuckled. "Alright. You ready to go?"

I nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

...

"Dark?"

Dark looked at the blond girl who walked beside him, hugging a small harp close to her chest. "What is it?"

Ahead if them, the Sheikah, Impa, walked ahead silently, though she was undoubtedly listening to them speak. The beam of light they had gone through had taken them a short distance away from their destination, an after resting for the night, they had started their journey. Impa had predicted they'd get there around sunset. Once they did and properly collapsed the entrance to keep the enemy out, they could rest again and do what they'd need to in the morning.

Zelda looked down at the sand as she walked. "Back at the Earth Temple," she said, "I saw something I wanted to ask you about."

Dark Pit frowned. "What is it?" He asked. What could it be she would think he'd know anything about in this world he was new to?

Zelda took a moment to clear her throat. "After you went into the light gate, the friend I told you about, Link, appeared. He was followed by someone who looked a lot like you."

Dark Pit stopped in his tracks, causing both Zelda and Impa to stop and look at him. "Just like me?"

Zelda nodded. "Yeah. Except his wings and clothes were white, his hair brown and his eyes blue."

Dark Pit closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Pit was here after all. He had been starting to doubt it, but his other half was here, and he would be coming with Zelda's friend to find them.

"Alright," he said, opening his eyes and beginning to walk again.

Zelda looked at him as he walked past, speeding up to catch up. "You know who it was?"

"It was his other half," Impa said, having already turned and started walking once more. "Light and Dark. Two sides if the same coin."

Zelda frowned. "Other half? So if you're Dark Pit, then he's Light Pit?"

Dark Pit nodded. "Except everyone just calls him Pit."

Zelda nodded slowly. "Can I ask how-?"

"There was a mirror," Dark Pit said, "That's all I'm saying."

Zelda frowned but nodded, quieting as they continued on their path.

...

This time around, Palutena managed to hold the connection until my feet touch the top of what looked like a large stone statue before it broke. I tightened my grip on the staff, looking around. "He's not here..."

"I told him to go on ahead," Viridi said, "Said you'd catch up."

"You actually spoke with him?" I asked.

"Duh," she said. "He's straight ahead. Might wanna hurry before he gets too far."

"Yeah, yeah," I said, walking to a ladder on the edge of the stone statue. I climbed down and made my way to what looked like a mine shaft, taking a look at the barren wasteland around me. There were slight signs of dried grass, and walls surrounded me on all sides. It was barren and lifeless, and I couldn't help but frown a bit.

I continued into the tunnel, hopping down a ledge and using a mine cart already pushed against the wall on the other side to climb up. I heard the sound of fighting as I did, and continued along into the tunnel, turning to a dead end one.

Link was there, his sword slashing through a yellow chuchu. There was another mine cart in the area, surrounded by rock piles. Link looked up as I cleared my throat to being attention to myself.

"You're here," he said, sheathing his sword.

I nodded. "Yeah. Sorry it took so long to catch up. I was talking to Lady Palutena."

Link shook his head. "You didn't miss much," he said, moving around the mine cart to approach me. "Come on."

I nodded and we walked to the end of the tunnel, which opened up to a large area with weathered statue things in the stone walls and, in a pedestal in the very center, a large blue gem.

"What is that?" Link wondered.

"I dunno. Let me..." I took out my staff and aimed at the gem, charging up a shot before firing it at the gem and watching it hit.

The gem began to glow, seeming to build up magic or energy of some sort before turning a lighter blue, as if a light had flickered on inside of it. It began floating out of it's pedestal, and all of a sudden the area began to change. Muted colors became more pronounces, grass and flowers replaced barren dirt, the weirdly shaped rock formations buried in the dirt turned into living robot like things, mine carts started floating, and machinery started working in the entire area.

I blinked a few times. "That...actually did something," I said, looking at Link, who was looking around. "Wow..."

Link turned and headed back into the tunnel, taking a look at the abandoned mine cart and the border where the crystal's power seemed to reach it's peak. "What do you think would happen if I pushed the mine cart into the border?"

I turned, blinking, "I'm not sure. Might as well find out."

Link nodded and moved aroun to the back, placing his hands on the edge an pushing it through into the border of the magic.

As soon as it was through, the minecart's muted colors became bright, and it started floating above the track, looking almost new.

"Woah..."

Link hummed. "Some kind of..."

"Time magic," Viridi's voice said matter-of-factly, making both me and Link-who must also be hearing it-jump.

"Time magic?" I asked.

"Yep. Time magic. So long as you are within the borders of the crystal's magic, you're in Lanayru's past," she said. "Pretty neat, eh?"

"Really neat!" I said, laughing a bit.

Link nodded. "Guess we'll have to use the crystal to progress," he said. He approached me, grabbing my wrist. "Let's see wha happens if we get in he cart."

I nodded and climbed in the cart with him, both of us having to stand to fit. As soon as we were in, the cart jerked and began moving along the track with a quiet hum, leading us into a door which opened as we neared and closed as the cart stopped right on the border of where the magic ended.

"That was weird," I said, hopping out, "And fun."

"Agreed," Link said. He looked around, eyes settling on a statue in the wall that seemed to be holding a bowl. "What do you suppose we do now?"

I took a look around myself, seeing a bomb flower growing nearby. Well, talk about subtle.

I picked the bomb flower, and immediately the fuse was lit. I quickly turned and threw it into the bowl. After a moment, it went off and the statue fell forward, revealing a hidden path. I grinned. "That was easy."

Link chuckled. "Well done. I actually missed that."

I blinked at him. "Seriously?"

"Seriously," Link said. "I'm not perfect, Pit." He walked over, using the fast-regrowing bomb flowers to refill his bomb bag, which was almost empty after the battle with that lava spider. "Anyway, let's see what awaits us, shall we?"

I nodded, following him into the the opening to find...

"Quicksand. It had to be quicksand."

Link grimaced. "It would figure."

"I'd rather not get sand in my wings. It's the worst thing!" I shook my head. "Let's go."

We had to move quickly over the sand from platform the platform, space to space where we could take a quick breather without the risk of being swallowed up by sand. Eventually we got to this path with an older mine cart, discovered another of those time crystals, and activated it so that we could move the mine cart into it's range. After clearing out the few enemies in the area and destroying the rock pile in the middle of the track, Link climbed into the cart. "Out of the mines," he said, holding a hand out to me.

I took his hand, and he helped pull me into the cart. "And into the desert," I said with a nod as the cart moved along the track and through the doorway to our destination.

**Alright, chapter done! See that little button that says "Review this Chapter?" Click it please! Sayonara~!**


	11. Into the Desert

**New chapter time~ and, as a bonus, extra long!**

**i have two questions for you all this time around! One, should I skip past the entirety of the mining facility? And two, what should happen with Pittoo? Should he go with Zelda and Impa into the gate, or should Ghirahim capture him again? I'm asking because I honestly can't decide! Both options are appealing in their own ways. I'm just not sure.**

**Enjoy! I own nothing.**

Heat and bright light. Those were the first things to register in my head. My eyes squinted instinctively, my hand coming up to block out the light until they adjusted. I felt the cart stop moving underneath us, but didn't move until my eyes were fully adjusted, hopping out and joining Link on the ground as Fi emerged from the sword with that telltale tinkling sound.

"We have arrived at Lanayru Desert," she said as we looked down upon the large, open areas below us. "The terrain in this area changed dramatically as climate forces rapidly turned it into a desert."

I let out a quiet whistle as we took in the terrain. There were numerous walls and what might have once been buildings, and way in the distance there was a huge statue I couldn't quite make out the shape of. "Impressive," I muttered.

"I have confirmed numerous areas of sinksand," she continued. "Should you step in sinksand, you may be swallowed by the desert. Bodily danger has increased by 30%."

I groaned at hearing that, already thinking of all the sand I'd have to clean out of my feathers. Link chuckled quietly, then quieted as Fi spoke once more.

"As a safety measure, I recommend you check the terrain on your map. My readings indicate that Zelda had passed through here. As previously stated, this area is highly dangerous."

"She has Pittoo and that Sheikah lady with her," I said, "She's protected."

"I suggest reuniting with her quickly to determine the motivations behind her actions at Eldin Province." So even Fi had no idea what happened and wanted to know?

Link nodded at Fi as she returned to the sword. He looked behind us at the range of the time crystal, where it was grassy and colorful, then looks forward at the expansive desert. "Once upon a time it was colorful and safe," he said quietly. "Imagine how beautiful a sight that must have been."

"Must've been breathtaking," I said. "But now..."

"Yeah..." He shook his head. "Let's go. The sooner we find Zelda, the better."

After a quick prayer at the nearby bird statue, we headed down the trail to this open area with large, dead trees an platforms. There was this new creature-kinds of like a hermit crab, but ten times larger and twenty times more dangerous-that would withdraw into it's shell if it saw us and immediately started rolling straight at us with an electrified shell. We ran out of that area quickly and immediately ran into another obstacle-more of those bowl-holding statues we had to get bombs in to lower but couldn't reach by throwing. We did a bit of looking around and discovered some old, sandy cages nearby with a rock pile in one similar to the rock pile that had his the last time crystal. Sure enough, when Link managed to get on top of one cage and throw a bomb into a hole at the top, it exploded and revealed a time crystal. He threw a second bomb, which went off and lit up the crystal. It's magic spread in a far smaller radius than the last two, but it was enough to reveal another of those robot things in another cage and futuristic Bokoblins wielding electrified machetes that immediately lit up as the magic radius spread to include me.

"Help, zrrt!" The robot cried at me, shaking in place.

I nodded at it and brought up my staff, charging up a shot an firing at the closest approaching Bokoblins. The shot went right through him, and he immediately burst into purple mist and disappeared. The second was finished with a quick blow from behind from Link. Once they were gone, the bars of the cages lowered and we approached the robot.

"You okay, buddy?" I asked.

The robot gave what looked like a nod, looking up at us. "Thank you, zrrt," he said. "If you hadn't come along, they would have sucked all of the electricity out of me, vrrm!"

"Good thing we came along when we did," I said, giving Link a slight smile. Link smiled back, nodding.

"Oh..." I looked back down at the robot, who was staring at the gold and green beetle around Link's wrist. "Look at that, zrrpt...you have a Beetle." Link nodded and held his wrist out so the robot could examine it. "It appears to be an older model of Lanayru fabrication." He looked up at Link. "As thanks for saving me, I will upgrade that for you, zwooop! Give it here for a second, phwing!"

Link and I exchanged glanced before Link handed him the beetle. The robot turned it's back to us and started fiddling around with the beetle, then turned back to us after a minute. The robot had added large pincers to the beetle's mouth, decorated with complex designs in orange.

"I've added a pincer modification so you can grab things, brrrrrrrt," he said, "Be careful out there, zrrt!"

Link accepted the beetle, placing it back on his wrist and giving a quiet thanks before tugging me away. He smiled at me once we were out of the crystal's range. "That was interesting. And perfect."

"You think so?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, because as it just so happens..." He pointed at a dead tree growing in sinksand. "There's a bomb flower growing up there."

I looked up, seeing the telltale blue orb. "Oh, wow. Guess we should see how it works, yeah?"

Link nodded and aimed the beetle at the bomb before letting it fly off of his wrist. It flew towards the bomb and grabbed it in it's pincers, and Link maneuvered it to one of the bowls of the statues, somehow managing to get it to release the bomb, which landed in the bowl. The bomb exploded as the beetle reattached itself to Link's wrist, and the stone felt into the sinksand, creating a platform.

"Awesome!" I said, "that'll be handy!"

Link nodded. "Definitely," he said. "Let's go. We've got a lot of desert to cover."

I nodded and followed him, watching as he used the newly-upgraded beetle to open up our path forward, placing bombs in statue bowls. Using the platforms they created, we crossed the sinksand-defeating an electricity-spitting frog thing along the way. Then we moved to the next area of sinksand, avoiding giant rock-spitting birds and more of those hermit crab things. Link got the idea to use the beetle to drop bombs on them and use their shells as platforms on the sinksand and-much to my surprise-it worked. So we used their shells after they disappeared as platforms to take quick breathers between platforms. We entered an area with sand waterfalls, which caused the shell platforms to move as soon as the hermit crabs were defeated. We were able to ride the platforms along the moving sinksand to get to the opening that lead to a small cavern to bring us to out next area.

There were numerous cacti and mine carts and tracks, but cliffs where the tracks broke up. Ahead if us, the statue was easier to see-that bird like symbol that from the statues in the springs, with a formation with three triangles above it's beak, as if being held up by the tips if it's wings.

"I'll bet you anything Zelda and Pittoo are at the base of that statue," I said, moving a bit further and spotting an exposed time crystal on a lone ledge.

"I'll bet the same," Link said, lifting the beetle up and letting it fly and hit the crystal. It let out a metallic shriek as it hit the crystal, rocking back and forth before flying back to Link and reattaching to his wrist as the crystal activated and spread time magic in a short radius, bringing back the futuristic Bokoblins and creating bridges long since disappeared.

We hopped in the minecart before the Bokoblin noticed us, then hopped out. I looked at the giant dead tree, which had a blue shine emerging from between the roots. "I think there's a crystal in there, too."

Link nodded, using the beetle to drop a bomb from on top if a cactus into the tree. It went off and activated the crystal, opening out path once more. Link sent his beetle ahead of the path on a whim, managing to use it to cut the stem of a Deku Baba and clear out path. We climbed into the cart and trailed along, seeing a gate head of us that lifted as I fired a shot from my staff at a crystal similar to the one that opened the temple in Faron woods. On the other side, we found what seemed like a huge temple around the base of the statue, however, the entrance was collapsed, preventing entrance. We also saw a familiar face.

"Gorko?" I asked as we drew near.

Gorko turned to look at us and grinned. "Good to see you, buds. Seems like you two are popping up everywhere."

"You're one to talk," I said, chuckling.

He chuckled as well. "Anyway, bud, there is something I'm dying to tell you. It's the discovery of the century!" He said excitedly. He gestured to the temple behind himself. "This is a sacred place known as the Temple of Time."

Link looked up at the collapsed entrance. "Temple of Time, huh?"

Gorko nodded. "I could not believe my eyes when I saw a human who lives on the legendary Isle of the Goddess!" Link and I exchanged glances, but Gorko didn't seem to notice, continuing to speak. "It wore clothes just link the ones written about in the ancient manuscripts! And it looked just like you, bud!"

"Wonder why," Link muttered quietly. Gorko, again, didn't notice.

"It came with another person. Two actually-one of them had wings, like your friend right there, except black! And they entered the temple! I wanted to chase after them...But then there was an explosion all of a sudden! And the entrance..." He paused. "Well, you can see for yourself, bud." He crossed his arms, frowning. "I do not think we are getting past this mess. I just wish we could find out what is happening on the other side!"

Link frowned as Gorko turned away, muttering to himself. "There has to be another way inside. The woman...she wouldn't deny me the only entrance in, would she?"

"Normally i'd say she probably would, but in this case, I don't think so," I said. "We may have to keep looking around."

Which is what we did. We found a time crystal in a small cavern under a ledge and activated it with the beetle, it's magic creating a mind cart path that was blocked by a stonified robot. A bit more exploration revealed yet another time crystal underneath a pile of rocks on a ledge that, when activated, brought the mine cart, robot, and a couple of Bokoblins to life. Link and I were able to quickly defeat the Bokoblins, then approach the robot. "You alright, buddy?" I asked as Link pulled out his map to take a look at the desert and determine where to go from here.

"That was scary, vrrrrrm..." It said. "Thanks for helping me, bzzt." It paused. "This is the Temple of Time. Within it is the sacred Gate of Time made by the goddess, bzzt. It's my job to patrol outside the temple, vrrm! If you want to reach the Gate of Time, you will need to pass through that door, bzzap."

I glanced at the collapsed entrance. "About that...we need another way in."

The robot almost seemed to frown. "Huh? You need another way in, pho-weep?" It paused, thinking. "Well, Lanayru Mining Facility and the Temple of Time are connected underground, dzzt. Lanayru Mining Facility is right here!" It approached Link and wrapped it's large hands around his wrists, pulling him down with a surprised cry take a look at his map. "This map...it looks inaccurate, bzzt. I'm going to fix it for you, zrrm!" It snatched the map from Link's hand, ignoring his indignant "hey!" As it turned away and seemed to fiddle around before handing back a completely different map. All of the sand was green, and an extra small area had been added near the top. A small "x" marked the location of the facility. "Lanayru Mining Facilty is just ahead," it said, "Good luck, vrrt!" Then it turned, wandering away.

Link sighed. "Ugh."

Fi emerged from the sword. "A report, Master Link. The map you possess corresponds to the actual terrain of this area with only 35% accuracy. The robot modified your map to show past terrain that is now submerged below sinksand."

"No, really?" I breathed quietly as she returned to he sword.

Link shrugged at me. "She does have a tendency to state the obvious, but she can be helpful, too."

I stood back as he hopped into the mine cart, watching it move to the edge of the time crystal's radius. "Kind of like Lady Palutena."

Link hopped out and used the beetle to activate the second time crystal, the both of us watching as the first one deactivated while the second one activated, spreading outward to cover the mine cart again so it could continue along the revealed path. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, except she states the obvious less often," I said, approaching the mine cart as Link hopped in. I took his offered hand, climbing in myself. "Of course, she jokes around alo-! Woah!"

The cart jerked suddenly as it began moving, and I stumbled, falling right into Link. He wrapped his arms around me, holding into me and managing to keep his balance as the cart followed the path. "You alright, Pit?"

I blinked a few times, my cheeks heating up a bit. "Y-yeah, I'm fine," I said. "Just kinda caught off guard, it all."

Link nodded, though he didn't release me until the cart came to a complete stop on the other side of the time crystal's revealed path. We both hopped out, him after me, and he looked up the path again. "There was a goddess cube up there," he said. "I'm going to go get it. I'll be right back." He hopped back into the cart, which began moving again.

I nodded, facing up at the sky and closing my eyes. I thought back to my stumble, my cheeks heating up once more, and I let out a quiet curse. I should have known better! If he hadn't caught me, I could have fallen out and cracked my skull open. Or-even worse-I could have pushed him out, and he'd be the one with a cracked skull, and this world would have lost it's hero!

I was so lost in my thought that the world around me faded away. I don't know how much time passed-probably just a minute or two-before Link's voice startled me out of my thoughts. "I'm back."

I jumped and turned. "Oh, hey. Get the cube?"

Link nodded. "I did. Everything alright?"

"Yeah, of course!" I said, quick to change the subject. "Let's go. The sooner we find this mining facility, the sooner we find Pittoo and Zelda!"

Link nodded. "Right." He followed me into a nearby cavern, dodging past rock-spitting creatures with rocks on their heads as we dashed to the other side.

We came out into a ginormous area of sinksand, with platforms leading to wrecked walls we could stand on. We ran to the first platform, took a quick breather, then began running to the second, pausing in surprise when we realized that:

A) we weren't being slowed down by the sand

B) we could stand in it and not sink.

Fi emerged from the sword as Link and I exchanged bewildered glances. "Master Link, I have information to report. I can confirm that you and Pit will not be consume by the sinksand in this current position. I suggest verifying your location on the map."

Link pulled the map out, and all three of us took a look at it. Fi held out one of he cloak like arms, lightly tracing the path we took before stopping above where I assumed we probably were. "Readings indicate that there is a submerged path beneath the sinksand. It is possible to walk along a route above this path without submerging completely into the sinksand."

"So this entire place isn't a death trap," I said. "Thank goodness."

"Simulations suggest that placing beacons to mark a safe route along these paths before proceeding would significantly reduce risk. I recommend placing multiple beacons."

Link nodded. "I'll tell you when I need you to place a beacon, Fi."

"Of course, master," she said before returning to the sword.

After examining the map a bit more, Link put it away, grabbing my wrist. "This way," he said, dragging me along a submerged path to one of the wrecked walls. We climbed up, taking a moment to catch our breath before walking over to a large machine where the "x" on the map was. Behind it was a ginormous pit of sinksand.

"This...is the facility?" I asked, blinking.

"I don't think so," Link muttered. He took a look around, seeing scattered robot remains, then looked at a rock pile. "Let's ask a local," he said, placing a bomb beside the pile and waiting until it exploded an revealed a time crystal before slashing at it and plunging the small radius into the past. The machine looked much more impressive now, and the robot beside it looked at us weirdly.

"You are not in my memory banks, brrt," it said slowly.

"Yeah, we're kinda new around here," I said. I gesture to the machine. "What's that?"

"This is the power generator for the mechanism that opens the entrance to Lanayru Mining Facility, zrrp," he said, "But it won't budge until you activate the remote power nodes and set those three did to access them correctly."

"Oh, fun," I muttered, "more work."

Fi emerged from the sword. "Readings indicate the materials used to construct the generator are also present in this area. You can now use your dowsing ability to locate them," she said before once more returning to the sword.

Link looked at the generator briefly, then looked at me. "Do you mind waiting here?"

I blinked at him. "What?"

"Waiting here. At the generator. Until i turn on the power nodes," he said.

"But I'm supposed to be helping you!" I said, "why do I have to wait?!"

Link sighed. "Please, Pit! Just to get this done quicker."

I huffed. "Fine," I muttered, turning my back to him and walking over to a nearby stool. I sat down and stared out over the large circular area of sinksand, listening to his footsteps fading slowly. Jerk. Not letting me help. What else am I supposed to do?!

**Don't forget to answer those questions at the top! See that little button that says "Review this Chapter?" Click it please! Sayonara~!**


	12. So Close,Yet So Far

**yay! New chapter!**

**so...I kinda went against the majority vote for Pittoo's fate when writing this chapter. I can explain why, though! I will at the bottom if the chapter.**

**Also, I don't exactly remember the Facility, but I think most of the things I described is right. Except m****aybe the Bokoblins but I'm leaving that bit in anyway. Just 'cause.**

**For now, enjoy! I own nothing!**

"...it...?"

Mmph...just five more minutes...

"P...ake...on..."

Five more minutes...

*Bonk*

"Oww!"

I hissed, my hands flying up to the newly aching spot on my head. I rubbed the area with a quiet whine. "Oww..."

"Good morning, sleepyhead."

I cracked my eyes open, looking at the blond who stood nearby, his hands on his hips. "What was that for?"

"For not waking up quickly enough," Link replied, walking over. "I didn't hit you that hard, did I?" He didn't wait for a reply, pulling my hand away from my head and feeling the area he had hit. Searching for a developing bump, maybe?

"It still hurt," I said, standing up and stretching my stiff joints, my arms stretched above my head and my wings extended as far as I could extend them behind me.

"I'm impressed you managed to fall asleep on a stool," Link said, "Those things are incredibly uncomfortable."

I shrugged. "I didn't really notice." I decided to change the subject. "Get all the power things?"

Link nodded. "Yeah," he said, "I just have to twist the dials around into place."

I followed him over to the machine, standing aside as he drew his sword. He stuck the blade into the opening in the center, flicking his wrist from side to side to change the position of the dials. If he tried to push in a dial in the wrong place, it would forcefully push his sword out and he'd have to try again. Finally, after a few tries, he got all three dials put in place and pushed the last one in, pulling his sword out.

The machine began to glow and emit a beeping sound, and the ground began to shake and rumble, catching us off guard. From the enormous sand pit, a huge structure started to rise from the sands, towering over us with a large staircase leading up to it's entrance. It settled once it reached its full height, sand falling off if it in sheets and exposing the stone underneath.

"Woah," I breathed, blinking a few times.

"Impressive," Link muttered.

I followed him off of the stone onto the ground and up the stairs, standing just within the entrance and staring down the stairs into the looming darkness.

"I am going to have so much sand to clean out of my feathers," I muttered quietly.

Link chuckled. "You want to wait here so you don't have to deal with that?"

"Are you kidding?" I took a few steps down, then turned and looked back up at Link. "You left me alone once already, and I've probably got a developing sunburn because of that. You are not leaving me alone like that again."

Link smiled. "Fine, fine," he said before following me down.

...

The facility was essentially a labyrinth.

There was a lot of backtracking going on there, with sand everywhere an these weird tiny scorpion-like things that shook and jumped at us when they tried to attack. We used time crystals a lot, switching between past and present to complete puzzles, and faced adversaries old-like the Bokoblins-and new, like these tall robots that would lock on to you and fire a laser at you. They were simple enough to take down-either Link would cut through the exposed parts of circuitry to bring it down to his level so he could jab his sword in it's "eye" or I would fire a blast from my staff directly in it's eye, which saved us time. I would also use my staff to activate out of reach time crystals that Link would have to use his beetle to activate.

Link also got a new object-a device that blew out powerful gusts of wind at the press of a small button near the bottom of the neck on the device, removing piles of sand and blowing back those weird scorpion things as well as these pufferfish creatures that floated in the air and exploded when touched. They also helped when we came face-to-face with this disturbing statue that guarded a perimeter of an area. Link had to use the device to spin this thing on top of it's head I open the mouth, which temporarily shut it down. From there, I would destroy the crystal with my staff. We had to do it twice, as it had a crystal on either side front and back. It was kind of nerve wracking when the thing first started hopping towards us. I decided I did not like them at all.

There were also these weird...skeletal hydra things. I vaguely remembered one in the Skyview temple, but I had kind of forgotten about it. There were two of them here, and I had to leave them to Link so he could destroy all three heads at once.

Eventually, we made it to the final door, standing before it and watching as the mine cart holding a time crystal settled in place and put the entire door in the past. Fi hopped out if the sword as the cart settled. "Master, look at this." She turned to the door. "There is a great door here that is locked tight. It is only logical that something of great importance rests behind this door."

"The temple," Link said, nodding.

"And Zelda and Pittoo," I added as she disappeared.

Link placed the key in the lock, and the door swung inwards. We entered, the door closing behind us, and found ourselves in a room filled to the brim with sand, and no visible exit in sight.

"What the...?" I looked. "Don't tell me we have to clear out all of this sand to find the door.

"I don't think so," he said quietly, "there's gotta-!" He made a surprised noise, and I looked over, noticing a lump in the sand that had passed directly underneath him, moving in front of him.

"There's our next battle," I said just before a giant scorpion popped out of the ground and hissed at us. It didn't look like your typical scorpion-there were eyes in it's claws, and the end of it's tail was a spiked ball.

It didn't take long before we realized the eyes were it's weak points, and from there we had our strategy-Link acted as a distraction, slashing at the eyes when it's claws were open with his sword. If it tried to grab him, I would shoot the eye of the reared back claw. When we destroyed both claws, it's actual eye lit up an it moved on to a new tactic-either trying to smash Link with it's tail which Link could block with his shield, or burrowing underground. When it did that, Link would use the device to expose it, and I would shoot it's eye when it jumped out.

Finally, with a final jab from Link's sword, it gave a shriek and collapsed to the ground, quickly vanishing into purple smoke. As Link sheathed his sword, the chamber started to rumble, throwing us off balance as the sand seemed to drain underneath us, disappearing and leaving us at the bottom of a large chamber facing the golden door we needed to pass through, the swirled heart laying in the ground nearby.

I looked at Link. Despite the fact that he had gotten hit once or twice by the scorpion's tail, he seemed almost unhurt. He just took the heart and headed through the golden door, with me following close behind.

We came upon a large, deathly silent hall with numerous robot statues, and a time crystal on the roof in the center. With a well-aimed shot I hit the crystal. The room brightly illuminated, and Link and I hopped into the cart nearby to cross the pit and climb up the stairs.

As we entered the temple, we heard quiet singing and the sound of a harp. Looking around, I spotted a large glowing gate thing-the Gate of Time, presumably-as well as three familiar figures standing before it.

Link and I stood and watched as Zelda slowly finished the song. As she finished, she seemed to realize she had an audience and turned, smiling and causing Impa and Pittoo to also look over. I could see Pittoo's eyes widen as they met mine. Zelda and Link began to move towards each other, and with a cry of Pittoo's name, I did the same.

A sudden explosion rocked the temple, causing Link and I to stop and recoil away from the rubble blocking the entrance. The sky darkened and a familiar sinister laugh echoed though the area as Ghirahim jumped out of the dust cloud, landing just before Link and I. He didn't waste a second, quickly creating a barrier of diamonds to keep us where we were. With a smug smirk he turned his attention to the group by the gate, rushing forward. The Sheikah immediately rushed towards him in return.

"Impa!" Zelda cried, startled, as Pittoo reached out to hold her back.

Impa met Ghirahim in the center of the bridge, creating a large blue barrier that his sword bounced right off of. With a frustrated growl, he began launching a barrage of attacks against the barriers.

Focusing on maintaining the barrier, Impa spared a moment to yell "Dark Pit, get Her Grace through the gate!"

Pittoo nodded, grabbing her elbow. "Let's go," he said, tugging.

"Wait!" Zelda slipped out of his grasp, running to the side to bring herself in clear view of me and Link. "Link!"

Link looked over at her, blinking. "Huh?"

She lifted the harp above her head, and it began to glow with a golden light. "Link, here!" She cried as the harp lifted from her hands. "You'll need this where you're going!"

Somehow, she made the harp fly across the pit an into Link's arms. He stared at it for a moment, then hooked it onto his belt, letting it dangle against his thigh.

Impa's barrier had begun to crack, and with a pained grunt, she snapped at Zelda and Pittoo. "Go! Now!"

Pittoo grabbed Zelda's elbow. "Let's go!" He said, pulling her along.

"Pit!" Link said, grabbing my attention and pointing towards the barrier, which had greatly lowered. Was he not able to attack and keep it up at the same time?

With a final jab, Ghirahim broke Impa's barrier, throwing her to the ground with a cry.

"Impa!" Zelda cried in worry.

Pittoo cursed, his bow appearing in his hands. "Through the gate!" He ordered, separating the bow into two knives and rushing forward.

"Dark, don't!" Zelda cried, too late, as Ghirahim effortlessly smacked him to the side and into a pillar.

"Now!" Link cried as the barrier faded completely, drawing his sword an rushing forward. He jumped up and tried to bring his sword down on Ghirahim's back, but the demon managed to backflip away from the attack. I rushed forward to join Link with my staff in my hands, the two of is creating a wall with our bodies/my wings/his shield to protect Impa and Zelda.

"...Link," I heard her breathe, "Pit."

"Am I late?" Link asked with a slight smirk.

After a pause, I heard her chuckle. "...No. You're right on time." She picked herself up and headed towards the gate, grabbing Zelda along the way.

"Wait! Dark!" Zelda protested. "He's-!"

"-alright," Impa said, "he can defend himself! We have to go!"

I turned back to the glaring Ghirahim as Impa addressed us. "Link! You must go now. Return to the old woman at the Sealed Grounds. She will know where you must go! Pit, you go with and help him! And know that we will-!"

"I'll see you again!" Zelda cried, "this isn't goodbye, Link! I promise!"

The next thing I heard was a loud crash, glancing behind me briefly to see the gate had been shattered into a pile of rubble. I looked back at Ghirahim to see the look of anger and hate on his face.

"Now you pests have done it!" He snapped, aiming his sword at us. "I blame myself. I should have reprimanded you both the last time we met, but instead I was...soft." With a series of exaggerated movements, he kept talking. "I'd take pleasure in punishing you, but I have no time for recreation. But next time, I'll do more than just beat you senseless. I'll make the afraid so excruciating, you'll deafen yourself with the shrill sound if your own screams!" He aimed a hand at the remains of the pillar where Pittoo had crashed. "And you! You may have escaped me once, but I'm not done with you yet! You're coming with me!" Then he and the unconscious Pittoo both disappeared, and the sky lightened.

Link lowered and sheathed his sword and shield, looking back at the rubble pile behind us with a sigh. "So close..."

I turned my eyes to the pillar where Pittoo had been, a sad frown on my face. "Yet so far..."

Link sighed. "Oh well." He walked over the the nearby statue to say a quick prayer. As I joined him, he said without looking back at me "Hey, Pit?"

"Yeah?"

"Any chance you could come back to Skyloft with me?"

I paused, blinking. "Eh? Go back with you?"

Link turned to look at me, nodding. "Yeah. I intend to head to the Sealed Grounds immediately tomorrow morning, so it would be easiest if you spent the night with me in Skyloft."

I frowned. "I'm not sure," I said, "Lady Palutena might want me to return, and I can't just go to Skyloft with my wings and all."

"If she can't hide them, I have a friend who might be willing to let you stay with him," Link said.

I rose an eyebrow. "One who wouldn't freak out at the sight of a person with wings?"

"Definitely not," Link said with a nod. "Actually, I think he'd enjoy the company."

I sighed. "I can ask, at least." I approached the statue, setting a hand against the warm stone. "Lady Palutena?"

"Hello Pit," Palutena's voice said, "How are things?" I gave her a brief description of what happened with the Gate and Ghirahim and received a quiet sigh. "At least she's out of his hands. But Pittoo is in trouble."

"Yeah." I took a breath. "Lady Palutena, Link has a request for you."

Palutena paused. "He does?"

I nodded. "He wants me to stay the night in Skyloft so that immediately tomorrow morning we can head to our next destination."

"Hm. I'm not sure, Pit," Palutena said, "I mean, there are no winged people in Hylia's realm, and I can't hide individual body parts. Only a person's entire body."

"I know, but Link said if you can't hide my wings, there's someone at Skyloft I can stay with who won't freak out at the sight of me."

Palutena sighed heavily. "What do you want, Pit?"

"What do I want?" I frowned, thinking that question over. "I...I'm not sure. Maybe I could at least give it a try? I'm not in any real rush to come back to Skyworld, and I don't need to heal up in the hot springs."

"Alright, you can give it a try," she said with a nod. "Just let me know if you want me to return you to Skyworld."

"Of course." I pulled my hand away from the statue and turned around, only to receive a powerful gust of air straight to the face, almost knocking me off balance. "W-woah! Hey!"

Links shut the device off, chuckling. "Sorry. I was trying to help blow the sand out of your wings."

I huffed. "I can get it by myself. Anyway, Palutena said I can try staying in Skyloft for tonight."

Link nodded, putting the device away into...actually, where DID he put it? "Alright. Grab onto me then, and don't let go no matter what."

I wrapped my arms around his neck from behind, trying not to choke him as he prayed and a breeze pulled us via his sailcloth into the air. Once we were high enough in the air, he whistled for his bird, which caught the two of us. I almost lost my breath-and my balance-as the bird let out a startled squawk, flapping it's wings frantically a few times before Link managed to calm it down.

"Hey, boy," he said quietly, "Sorry I didn't warn you earlier. We've got an extra passenger."

The bird let out a quiet squawk but seemed to forgive Link, flying us towards the giant rock that was Skyloft. The sun was low in the sky, but not quite enough for things to start getting dark. Link guided his bird around the island to an area containing what seemed like a graveyard before having us both jump off, his cloth acting as a parachute for our landing. He looked around, seeing no one nearby, and sighed in relief. "Follow me."

I let go of him and followed him to the graveyard, down a ladder in what looked like a shed to a makeshift path leading to a hidden, rickety home on Skyloft's underside with cobwebs nearby. I hesitated, but Link continued right into the house, so I followed.

"Batreaux?" Link called, "you here? I need a favor."

Directly in front of us, what I had initially thought were ragged curtains spread into wings, their owner-a demonic figure with blue skin, yellow markings, beady eyes and huge red horns-turned to face us. "Oh, if it isn't my friend!" He said, clapping his hands together. "I'm happy to help you since you're helping me as well!"

Link smiled and stepped to the side. "Think you can let my friend Pit stay with you for tonight?"

Batreaux turned his eyes to me. "He has wings too. Is he a demon?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm not a demon. I'm, ah, I'm an angel, actually."

"Never heard of those, but I'd be glad to provide you with a place to spend the night!" He said with a warm smile.

Link smiled back. "Thanks, Batreaux. I'll be back later with more crystals." With that he left.

Batreaux provided me with a spare room, provided interesting conversation, and asked a lot about me. Link returned after nightfall, showing Batreaux some glowing orange gems, then took me out to show me around Skyloft when no one was around-aside from keese, chuchus, angry catlike things called Remlits, and a single patrol that was easy enough to avoid-a friend of Link's named Pipit.

As we wandered past pumpkin patches and buildings, Link glanced at me. "Here." He pulled a bottle from one of his pouches, filled with an orange liquid. "I'm not sure if angels eat, but I figured some world-famous pumpkin soup would be appreciated."

As if in response, my stomach growled, reminding me I haven't eaten since before I left Skyworld last. I took the bottle with an grateful smile and took a look at it. "Pumpkin soup, eh?"

Link nodded. "Best you'll ever taste."

"I've never tried pumpkin soup." I popped the cap off and took a quick sip to taste it. It...was actually really good, and send warmth spreading through my body. "That is good," I said, tiling my head back as I drank it all up before handing the bottle back.

He smiled. "Told you," he said, putting the bottle away. He looked up as passed under a bridge, eyes settled on the star-filled sky above us. "Tell me something about yourself."

"About me?"

Link nodded. "Yeah, I mean...you know plenty about me, but I only know a few things about you. You have wings but can't fly, you serve a goddess from some other place, you get annoyed by another goddess, you have a doppelgänger under Ghirahim's control. That's it."

I hummed, wondering what to tell him. A thought occurred to me, and I smiled as I simply said "I was a ring once."

Link blinked in my direction. "A ring?"

I nodded. "Yeah. The kind you wear around your fingers, not the kind gathered by blue hedgehogs." At Link's weird look, I shrugged. "It's a long story."

"We've got time," Link said, sitting on the edge of a bridge that would lead us to the path back to the graveyard.

I sat beside him, sighing. "Well...There was an enemy who had been caged and released during one of my adventures, one we had disregarded in favor of a more dangerous enemy. We achieve our goal, everything seems like it'll be fine, then the next thing I know I wake up with my soul trapped in a ring and my body-as well as Lady Palutena's-possessed by the creature. Whoever wore the ring I was in I could take control of, and I had taken control of a little girl and a dog before managing to take control of this human warrior who I had met and battled with before."

Link hummed. "Must have been a weird experience."

"Understatement of the century," I said. "But it was kinda cool. I prefer my own body, though."

"I bet." I watched his eyes slide over my shoulder to my left wing. "Why is it you have wings but can't fly?"

I shook my head. "I don't know," I said, "I just can't. Not on my own, anyways. I need help."

"Help?"

"Yeah. Palutena and Viridi both have something called the power of flight," I explained, "And they can grant it to me so I can fly. It had its limits though. They have to guide my path, it only works for about five minutes, and I have to wait a certain amount of time between uses. If I use it for too long, or too early, my wings will burn up."

Link frowned, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "Sounds painful."

"It is," I admitted. "It's happened before."

Link blinked a few times. "It has? How?"

I turned my body to face him, though my eyes were aimed down at the river beneath us, staring at the rushing water. "The creature I mentioned before, it's called a Chaos Kin. Me, Pittoo and Viridi were chasing after it in it's realm to retrieve Lady Palutena's spirit. We defeated it and saved her, but it made one last attack, trying to drag Pittoo to his death off of the platform we'd defeated it on. I was desperate to save him, so I jumped after and begged Viridi to give me the power of flight, even though I knew what I was risking doing so. It worked. I managed to save him, but my wings burned." I shook my head. "I almost died."

"They saved you," Link said, "and your wings are normal."

I nodded. "Yeah." I looked up at him. "Palutena and Viridi had Pittoo head to something called a Rewind Spring, and he dipped me in to restore my wings and save me." I smiled. "Considering he'd wanted me dead in the beginning, it was the weirdest thing, but I'm grateful to him for it. If he hadn't saved me, I wouldn't be here."

"No," Link said, "You wouldn't be. And that'd be a shame."

"You think so?" I asked.

Link nodded. "You're interesting, Pit. You've been through a lot." He pushed himself off of the edge of the bridge. "Come on. We should get some rest for tomorrow."

I followed him off of the bridge and to the shed, bidding him farewell an watching him run off before climbing down and heading back into Batreaux's house.

As I lay in the spare bed, waiting for sleep to drag me into it's embrace, I thought back to our conversation on the bridge and couldn't help but smile.

**Okay, so the reason I went against the majority vote was because Pittoo going with Ghirahim would be best for later events in the story. Alongside that, I have no clue what Pittoo would do in the past with Impa and Zelda, and I don't want him just standing around doing nothing. So that's why I had Ghirahim capture him.**

**also, why did Pittoo summon his bow even though Ghirahim to****ok it away and he never retrieved it? Because I said so.**

**hope you enjoy the chapter anyway! See that little button that says "review thisChapter?" Click it please! Sayonara!**


	13. The Imprisoned: part 1

**yay! New chapter!**

**Can you guys tell I'm really into this story right now? Because... I'm REALLY into this story right now. XD**

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I was awoken early the next morning by knocking on the spare bedroom door. Link's voice came through the door. "Pit, let's get going!"

"Hold on!" I replied, my voice making it clear I was still half-asleep. I pushed myself up and yawned, grabbing my laurel crown from a nearby table and putting it on. I ran my fingers through my hair a few times, stood up, stretched, and readjusted my clothing before heading outside. I found Link chatting with Batreaux, holding two bottles of pumpkin soup in his hands. He looked over a me and held out a bottle. "Drink up."

"What time is it?" I asked with a yawn, taking the soup and quickly downing it.

"Early," Link said, "the loftwing patrol that keeps people from flying at night will be coming back within a few minutes. As soon as they do, we'll have a brief window of time to get out of here unseen before the townspeople start wandering around."

"You have a lofting patrol to keep people from flying late?" I asked.

Link nodded, idly swirling the pumpkin soup. "Yeah. It became necessary after an...incident several years ago." He left it at that, drinking from his own bottle, and part of me decided that the look on his face was enough to deter me from asking more.

I grabbed my staff from beside the door and handed him back the bottle. "I'm ready to get going whenever you are."

Link nodded. "Alright." He looked at Batreaux. "Thanks for letting him stay, Batreaux."

Batreaux smiled. "I'm happy to be of aid, and Pit was pleasant company." He smiled at me. "Don't be a stranger, now!"

"Thanks again," I said, following Link out.

As we walked through the seemingly deserted town, I asked "so, what were with those crystals you showed him? I meant to ask yesterday but forgot."

"They're called Gratitude Crystals," Link said, pulling one from his pouch and showing it to me. "Crystallized feelings of gratitude. According to demon beliefs, if I gathered enough of these, Batreaux would be able to turn human and live among the other people of Skyloft."

"Huh. That's weird," I commented as he put the crystal away.

Link nodded. "A bit, but it's just another excuse to help people who need it."

We hopped over these rock platforms across the lake to another unpopulated area near a cave. He approached a wooden dock, and Link looked around. "The patrol should have already come in, so we should be safe to fly to the Faron beacon and dive to the Sealed Grounds."

I nodded. "Alright." I watched him run off of the dock, and heard a loud whistle. Then Link was flying up on his Loftwing, watching me.

I ran off as well, falling towards the clouds. "Lady Palutena!" I called.

"I've got you, Pit!" I heard Palutena's voice call before the familiar rush of the power of flight filled me. I angled myself up to bring myself level with Link, who was watching me in noticeable amazement. I flashed him a grin, and he smiled back, guiding his loftwing in the direction of the green beacon.

"How was your stay in Skyloft, Pit?" Palutena asked as I followed behind Link.

"It was pretty good," I said, "Batreaux is an interesting guy. And the pumpkin soup is amazing!"

Palutena chuckled. "Sounds like you had fun."

"Yeah! I just wish I didn't have to hide because of my wings," I said, "Id love to explore more of the town, rather than be confined."

I heard Palutena hum. "I see. I'm sorry Pit."

"It's alright," I said, "It isn't your fault." I watched as we neared the beacon. Palutena had pulled me ahead of Link, so he was behind me.

"Ready to head down?" Palutena asked.

"Ready!" I said, as she angled me downwards and guided me as far as she could before our connection broke.

I ended up landing in the clearing where Link and I first met, landing on my feet. I straightened and looking up in time to see Link falling towards me, except something was wrong. Something was latched onto his leg, dragging him down faster. I watched a he pulled his sailcloth from his pouch and opened it, slowing their fall just enough to land without injury. As they recovered, I realized the thing that had latched onto Link's leg was a person.

He had a big build, reminding me of Magnus. But the build was where the similarities ended. This guy had bright orange hair slicked up in some kind of pompadour, pale yellow eyes and lips, lightly tanned skin, and wore some kind of yellow shawl over a blue shirt and white-ish pants with red designs, boots, a belt and gloves.

"...ugh," he muttered, stirring. "Rough landing." He pushed himself to sit up, rubbing the side of his head and looking around, disoriented. "I think I mighta broke something. Hey, Link, seriously...didn't anyone ever teach you how to land without crash-?!" He paused, staring wide-eyed and wide-mouthed at the tiny birds that hopped around his feet. I didn't see anything unusual about them, but I guess he did, because all of a sudden, he jumped back with a startled "WOAH!" Which caused the birds to fly away.

"B-birds?" He said, startled, "TINY birds?! W-what...ARE they?!" Something else caught his eye, and I followed his eyes to see Gorko walking around, looking at his map.

"And what is that thing?!" He said loudly.

"Hey, Gorko's not a thing!" I said, "that's rude!"

He immediately looked at me, and his shocked expression grew more intense as he stared at my wings. His body shook, an he stuttered out "But...how...w-why...wha-what...?" Then he threw his head back, yelling at the top of his lungs "WHERE AM I?!"

Link, who had picked himself up, walked over. "Groose, calm down. We're on the surface."

"Calm down?!" Groose snapped. "CALM DOWN?!" He jumped to his feet, grabbing Link by the shoulders and violently shaking him. "What's going on here?! Ever since Zelda vanished, you've been zipping in and out if town in a hurry! So I figured I'd tail you, and you'd lead me to Zelda! But this is...so wild." He pointed in the direction Gorko disappeared in. "Seriously, what IS that thing?" He then pointed at me. "And he...he has wings...that's not possible..." Not giving me the chance to respond, he stared upwards at the trees. "And what's with all these trees! There's so many!" He began shaking Link again, almost jumping in place. "Just give it to me straight! I can take it. Where are we? Is Zelda here?"

I moved over, grabbing his arm. "He can't explain if you're shaking him like that," I said as he halted, looking at me. "Just wait a second and let him explain."

Groose took a deep breath, calming himself down, then looked at Link again. "What's the deal with this place?" He asked, "If there's supposed to be nothing below the clouds, then what's all this?"

Link smiled gently and patted Groose's arms, reaching up to pry them from his shoulders. "I'll tell you everything." He explained to Groose about the surface and gave the basics of his mission, not disclosing many details. Then he quieted, letting me explain myself to Groose. I told him my name, what I was, what I do, and only that I was helping to track down Zelda.

As I finished speaking, Groose fell to his knees, a strange expression on his face. "Uhh...woah..." He said quietly as birds landed on his shoulders and on top of his hair "you're kinda imploding my mind right now. But I think I get what you're saying. If I've got this right, Zelda is down here somewhere and she's...okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, she's fine. With someone who'll keep her safe."

He gave a soft smile. "She's...she's okay. Oh wow! That's so great! Duh huh huh..." Groose began sniffling, scaring away the bird on his hair as he lifted a hand to wipe at his nose. "Hearing that is such a...huge weight off my mind."

Link smiled. "Glad we could brighten your day."

Groose lowered his hand, having composed himself, and looked around. "You know, Link...it's sort of all right down here."

"It's amazing," Link said, smiling as he looked around.

"This place needs a name," Groose said, nodding to himself. "Yeah...a name fitting for this rugged, adventurous wilderness. From now on, we'll call it...Grooseland."

Link an I both looked at him, startled. "What?!"

Ignoring our surprise, he stood up, running his hands up his pompadour. "So lemme see if I've got this right," he said, "the old lady living in the temple down the road knows where Zelda is?"

Link nodded. "Yeah..." I could already tell by his face he knew what was coming up.

Groose crossed his arms. "I see...Right, Link. Thanks for getting me here. You've done a good job. You can head home."

"No he can't," I said, "He's the hero."

Groose looked at me and shook his head. "He ain't no hero. You can was back to wherever you came from, too. Big Groose will handle the search for Zelda from here."

"But-!"

Groose cut me off with a chuckle, a strange, wistful expression coming to his face. "Yup. I'll track her down, save her, and then give her a lift back to Skyloft..." I could practically see smoke coming from his nostrils as he continued speaking. "Then when we get back, I'll ask her if she wants to make our whole going-out thing official, and then the two of us will get some quality time together."

I gave Link a look of "is this guy for real?" He sighed and nodded back in response.

Groose shook himself from his daze. "Anyway, the point is you two's work from here is done. I got it covered from here. Now, it's off to find that old lady you were talking about!" He turned and ran off, letting out a loud "Catch you later, Link!" over his shoulder.

I blinked a few times. "He's...quite the character," I commented.

"He is," Link said, "He's also my childhood bully and an idiot. We should go get him."

"Yeah," I said, following him in the direction of the temple.

We arrived before it's ruined doors before long, pushing them open and heading inside. Almost a soon as the door closed, we heard Groose's loud voice. "Huh? You gotta be kidding me, Grannie!"

We headed to the stone stairs leading up to where Groose was talking with a strange old woman. Most of her appearance was hidden by a pointy red cloak, with the exception of long blonde hair braided into a weird circle thing.

"You're messing with me," Groose accused, clearly angry. "Say it again, I dare you!"

The old woman had absolutely no problem taking him up on his dare as she said "I speak the truth. You are not the one who will save her. The Spirit Maiden, your Zelda, can only be saved by another. It has been his fate to do this thing, and in doing so save us. As it was decided long before you were brought crying into this world."

"SHUT IT GRANNIE!" Groose snapped. "You obviously don't know me well, 'cause if you did, you'd know that if anyone is gonna save Zelda, it's Groose! How could it not be me? Plus, if it ain't me, why would I even be here? Pfft. If I'm not up to the job of being the hero, then who is?"

"Guess who?!" I called out as Link and I ascended the stone staircase, attracting their attention and standing on the woman's other side.

The woman dipped her head. "Palutena's angel," she greeted.

Groose spoke up. "Oh...now I getcha," he said, staring specifically at Link. "Link, Grannie here has been trying to tell me you're gonna be the big hero who saves Zelda."

"Maybe because it's true and that's what we've been doing," I suggested.

Groose glared. "What a joke!" He said. "Look, all I've heard so far is a bunch of babbling about destiny, but that's a load of garbage! I know you, and you're no hero, shrimp!"

"If only he knew," Link whispered to me, causing me to snicker.

I don't know if he heard us or not, but the next thing he did was turn and run out of the temple through the other entrance, letting out an angry growl as he did.

With him gone, the woman turned her attention to us. "Greetings, Link. Were you able to catch up with Zelda?"

"Well...more or less," Link said. "There were two people with her. One now, though."

"Ah, I see. So the guardian was here as well, was she? And the dark angel, too!" She seemed to straighten her posture a bit. "The one you saw by Zelda's side is known as Impa. She is a being sent forth by the goddess to aid Zelda in her quest, just as her sister, Goddess of Light Palutena, sent her champion to aid you." I smiled at the words as the woman continued speaking. "The two have traveled somewhere in order to accomplish the great task destiny has set before them. However, now that Impa has destroyed the gate that they used, there is only one way left to find them. You must make use of the harp given to you by Zelda."

Link lifted the harp, untying it from his belt. "This?" He asked, looking at it in puzzlement. "I haven't even tried playing it yet. I don't know how."

"Very well," she said, "Listen well, and do as I say."

She told Link the basics about how to play the instrument, then had him stand in the middle of a circle and start playing in time with a pulsing circle of light. Once he matched the circle's tempo, she began humming a tune. As they played, these lights formed in the holes creating the circle. Once they were all lit up, and the woman and Link finished the song, I noticed a light pulsing behind him. I blinked, mouth opened in shock, as the light grew stronger and taller, forming a large grey pillar with exposed deep blue sides.

"The harp you hold is known as the Goddess's Harp," the old woman said, "It is the divine instrument of the goddess who once watched over this land." Link lifted and examined the harp while she continued to speak. "The melodies it brings to life have the power to produce a variety of strange and otherworldly effects. The great slab standing before you is known as a Gate of Time."

"Another one?" I asked.

The woman nodded at me. "It is the last of it's kind in existence...the only portal binding our world to the one where Zelda now resides." She looks at Link. "If you manage to open the gate and pass through, you will likely end up in the same place as Zelda. But you need to endure many hardships and pit yourself in great danger to awaken the gate from it's dormant state." Her head lowered a bit. "Though your journey will put you in harm's way, Link... You must endure. It is your fate as the chosen hero of the godde-!"

She was cut off when the ground beneath us rumbled, accompanied by a ghastly roar. All of us cried out and stumbled as the rumbling slowly ceased.

"What was that?!" I asked.

The woman looked up. "This shaking...I fear the seal has been broken. I expected that it would react to your summoning the gate, but I never imagined the seal would break so quickly." Her eyes darted between us. "Link, Pit, there will be time to explain later. Right now, you must get to the bottom of the pit outside."

Link and I nodded, and we both rushed outside. The large pit I had seen before loomed before us, and the ground rumbled an shook again.

"Whoa!" Groose, who was standing nearby, exclaimed. "Wh-what's with all the shaking?" His entire body shook in fear. "The whole ground is heaving...I thought it was supposed to be solid down here!"

The old woman held out a hand. "Go quickly, Link! Check on the sealing spike at the center of the pit. Pit, go with and aid him! There is nothing natural about these tremors. That monster could free itself at any moment. Approach the pit with caution!"

Link and I nodded and ran towards the edge of the cliff. While Link used his sailcloth to slow his falls from cliff to cliff, I used my wings, batting them as much as I could to slow my fall.

As we landed on the ground, looking at the spike-which was surrounded by a circle if intricate patterns pulsing black and billowing black clouds of smoke emanating from the bottom of the spike-the clouds increased in size, even seeping into the ground and spreading to the edges of the circle. From the huge circle of shadows burst forth a ginormous creature with black and dark red feathers, a mouth full if sharp teeth, and weird white things on it's legs with the sealing spike still on top of it's head. It lowered it's head, giving us a toothy grin while Link and I brought out our weapons then gave a loud roar that almost seemed to rattle through my skull before starting to take steps towards the ramp.

"I knew it!" The old woman yelled down towards us. "The seal has given way! I'll explain later, but now is the time for action. We must keep that beast from escaping that pit! It must not reach the temple!"

Link darted forward without a word, going for the only thing he could reach-the white things on it's feet. With a few slashes of his sword, the thing popped. He managed to pop all three before the monster stopped, lifting the foot he was attacking and stomping down, releasing crackling red and black lightning that spread out, narrowly missing Link as he rolled out of the way to get behind the creature and finish the job.

As he did so, I ran back a bit, aiming my staff at the white things-toes, I guess-on the other foot, eliminating all three with powerful, well placed shots while Link destroyed the two back toes. As the last one was destroyed, the monster roared and fell back, and Link and I rushed to it's head. With three strikes from Link's sword, the spike was buried back in it's head, and after the third time, the monster managed to flip itself onto it's stomach and started wiggling further up the ramp.

"Of course this wouldn't be easy," I muttered, rushing to join Link over at the nearest air-blowing hole to get a boost up to the next level as the monster stopped it's wiggling, picking itself up and regrowing it's toes before moving forward once more.

It took three tries-one of which the monster released the crackling lightning with every step-before Link managed to trap the spike within it's head for the last time. With loud roaring, the monster burst in a flash of light and feathers, all of which shot down to the center of the pit and created another sealing spike.

"Now Link!" The old woman called. "Strike the sealing spike with a Skyward Strike and restore the seal! Quickly!"

Link rushed off if the edge and back into the pit, and I followed, standing nearby and watching as Link sent a skyward strike at the spike. The spike glowed from the blast of holy energy, and with a few swings of his sword, creating a triangle in the air, he sent the spike back into the ground, recreating the seal. He put away his sword and shield and smiled at me, and I grinned back, before it fell as I noticed Groose approaching him from behind. It wasn't Groose who broke the silence, though.

"Nice going, Link." We all looked towards the old woman, who had somehow managed to make it to the bottom of the pit. She took limping steps towards us. "Though the Imprisoned had only just begun to break it's bonds, I'm impressed you were able to restore the seal keeping it captive."

"Yeah, how'd you do that?" I asked, looking at Link, who shrugged at me.

"I'm not sure," he said, "I just...saw the thing appear before me and got the feeling I had to trace it with my sword."

"The goddess's influence," Viridi's voice chimed. "I'm not really sure how it works, but it allowed Link to remake the seal."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"It's simple goddess magic," she said. "Although it's not my thing. Palutena could probably do it if she wanted."

"Speaking with your goddess?" The old woman asked, looking at me under her cloak.

I sighed. "One of them," I replied.

The woman nodded, looking back at Link. "Unfortunately, you have only succeeded in buying us a little more time in which to act. The behemoth you beat back into confinement is a horror of unspeakable power. Judging by what I saw, I would not be surprised if the seal gave way again soon."

I sighed. "Another challenge we have to deal with. Fun."

The old woman tilted her head a bit. "You are left with precious little time to complete the task with which you have been entrusted with. Let us return to the Sealed Temple. There is much to discuss." The woman turned and began walking, and Link followed. I paused, observing the look on Groose's face as he watched Link, an almost sad expression. Almost like...acceptance? It was hard to tell. Realizing he wasn't gonna move, I turned and followed Link.

Up in the temple, we found ourselves standing before the strange obelisk. "As you can see," the woman said. "The gate is nothing more than a slab of cold stone for now. It is sleeping. Rousing it from its slumber would require great power." She hummed thoughtfully. "Yes, I believe a shot of holy light from your Skyward Strike might just do it..."

Link nodded. "Right," he said, moving to step towards the obelisk and unsheathe his sword.

"Ah, sorry to disappoint you, boy," she says, making him stop, "But for now your sword lacks the power necessary to awaken the gate. First, you and your sword must grow together." She turned her head to look a the slab. "Faron Woods...Eldin Volcano...and Lanayru Desert...A sacred flame is hidden somewhere in each of these lands. Seek them out and purify your sword in their heat. Only after your blade had been tempered by these three fires will it be fully imbued with the great power for which you search." She looked at him. "Clues to finding the sacred flames have been woven into the lyrics of a song precious to your people, the Ballad of the Goddess."

Link blinked. "T-The Ballad of the Goddess?" He asked.

The woman nodded. "These clues are your best hope of finding your way to the flames. Return to Skyloft. Somewhere on your island is one whose knowledge of this old song will point you in the right direction."

Link looked down thoughtfully, a slight frown on his face. He looked up a bit. "Zelda was singing that on the day..." He said quietly. "Maybe..." He stopped, looking behind him at hearing footsteps. I glanced too, seeing Groose approaching him. He looked unhappy. When Link looked at him, though, he gave a light smirk, then turned his back to Link. "I hate even sayin' this," he said, "But I guess you got it all figured out, Grannie. Me, well, there's nothin' I can do to help Zelda. I'm useless." He started approaching the door again.

The old woman spoke up. "Ah. You sell yourself short, my friend. You'll see in time that you have your own role to play in all this."

Groose didn't reply, just kept walking until he pushed the doors open and was once more outside.

Shrugging, the woman turned to Link. "Link, go now. Trust in your fate to guide your feet. Your mission depends on it...as does Zelda's fate." She looked at me. "And Pit?"

I blinked, surprised to be acknowledged. I was getting a little too used to being ignored. "What?"

She holds out a small bag. "Give this to Palutena. She will know what it means, given a few days to realize what it is." She then chuckled. "Then again, it is Palutena, so she just might figure it out by tomorrow morning, or even the end of the day!."

I took the bag, feeling the coarse material in my fingers. "I will."

She nods, and Link and I turned to leave. We were stopped when Link's sword flashed and Fi emerged.

"The 'Ballad of the Goddess,'" she said. "Based on my projections, this is likely the song Zelda sang on the day of the Wing Ceremony."

"It is," Link said, nodding.

"I calculate an 85% probability that someone associated with the academy will be able to provide additional information about this song."

Link nodded as she returned to the sword. "And I think I know who," he said. He looked at me. "Come on, Pit. Let's try to do this before that thing frees itself again."

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	14. Visiting Skyloft

**...okay, so I really wanted an excuse to include Peatrice in the story because I think her crush on Link is hilarious. And besides, Sparrot's prophecy is important, so they had to meet somehow. Besides, it's temporary. Leave me alone.**

**i don't remember their (meaning Pit's and Pittoo's) wings ever being folded against their back. They're always extended, so I assumed they couldn't fold, and had to come up with a different way for Pit to hide his wings, I tried to base Hermes and Athena off of the PJO versions of them, bu****t I'm pretty sure I'm far off. Oh well.**

**more mystery! More excitement! More green and white nerd antics! I own nothing! Enjoy!**

Once we were back in the sky, Link headed off to Skyloft, and Palutena brought me back to Skyworld. Once I arrived, I found her before me, kneeling on the ground and looking concerned. "Are you alright, Pit?"

"I'm fine," I said. "Lady Palutena, that thing in the seal..."

"It broke out," she said. "I know. Viridi sensed it and told me."

"Do you...know anything about how Link managed to seal it again?"

She shook her head, pushing some of her long green hair behind her ear. "No," she admitted. "I've no doubt it was Hylia's influence, but I'm not sure how." Her eyes settled on my hand, in which the bag was still clenched. "What's that?"

I looked at the bag. "Oh! The woman in the temple wanted me to give this to you!"

Palutena reached out and took it. "Did she?" She opened it up and pulled out a colorful, elaborate bracelet. Somehow it looked familiar...

"What is it?"

Palutena stared at it in puzzlement for a few moments, then realization crossed her face, followed by a softer expression. "It's one of Hylia's bands."

"Why would the woman want me to give it to you?" I asked.

"Because Hylia asked her to," Palutena said, standing up. "It means she knows of my intrusion into her hero's fate and wants to reassure me she's alright."

"You think so?" I asked.

Palutena nodded. "I'm sure of it." She stared at the bracelet wordlessly for a few moments, then spoke again. "We have to find a way to hide your wings."

"But you said-!"

"I know what I said," Palutena said, "And I wasn't lying. I can't. But I get the feeling some of Link's adventure will occur in his own home of Skyloft, and if that's the case, then you need to be able to join him there. Somehow." She looked at me, her eyes examining my wings. "Perhaps I can ask a favor of one of the other gods."

"But which one...?"

"Hermes." Palutena slowly nodded. "Yeah. He has to know of a way." She turned. "Go rest up Pit. I'll come back once I find a solution."

I felt weariness weighing me down at the words, and a rest sounded perfect. So I nodded and turned, heading to the weapon room to put away the staff. Then I headed to my own room, falling asleep almost instantly.

I guessed it was maybe a few hours that passed before a centurion woke me up, telling me Palutena had requested my presence. I dismissed him and pushed myself up, making my way to Palutena. I found her outside the stables where Phos and Lux were kept, talking with two people-a male with curly salt and pepper hair and deep brown eyes, wearing a toga similar to my own, black leggings, and shoes with small wings on them. He carried a large messenger bag on one shoulder, and deep circles rested beneath his eyelids.

The woman beside him had long curly blond hair in a ponytail and eyes more grey then a storm cloud. She wore elaborate silver armor, a sword hanging from her hip and a shield on her back, and nodded slowly as Palutena talked.

"You called me, Lady Palutena?" I asked, stopping nearby.

Three pairs of eyes turned to look at me.

"Good morning, Pit," she said with a smile. "I have good news."

"So this is the guy?" The male approached me, and I noticed them that he was barely taller than me. "You know who I am?"

"Lord Hermes," I said with a respectful bow. I looked at the woman. "And...Lady Athena, right?"

The woman nodded. "That's right."

"They agreed to help us," Palutena said, "Ah, in return for a favor from each."

"Whatever they need!" I said with a nod.

Hermes gave a tired smile. "My favor is for Palutena. Yours, my dear angel, is from Athena."

Athena stepped forward. "It's a simple task, just information gathering. I wish to know more about a powerful symbol in Hylia's realm-the Triforce, I believe it is called." She looked at Palutena, who nodded in confirmation, then looked back at me. "Any information you can bring me will suffice."

"I understand. I'll do my best."

Athena nodded and looked at Hermes, who straightened and dug around in his messenger bag before pulling out a locket.

"Athena and I have both placed our blessings on this locket," he said. "It has an enchantment. Only one thing is needed to complete the enchantment. Palutena, if you would?"

"Of course, Lord Hermes," she said, walking over to me. All of a sudden to felt a slight jolt, and Palutena was holding one of my feathers between her fingers.

"Ow!" I said, despite the fact that it hadn't actually hurt all that much.

"Sorry Pit," she said, before handing the feather to Athena.

Athena took it and turned to Hermes, who opened the locket. She placed the feather-which somehow shrunk to fit-inside, and he snapped it shut before placing the chain around my neck.

"There. Now Palutena can activate and deactivate the charm at will," he said, "So long as the charm is active, you will not be able to fly unless she deactivates it, which would reveal your wings. It isn't perfect, but it should work well enough. Removing the locket would also reveal your wings, so I would recommend keeping it on."

"Thanks so much!" I said, smiling.

"Yes, thank you, lord Hermes," Palutena said, bowing.

Hermes nodded. "Don't forget our deal, Lady Palutena."

"I won't," she said as he and Athena vanished.

"What does he want from you?" I asked curiously.

Palutena turned to me. "Ah, don't worry about it, Pit. For now, let's test to see if the charm works."

I nodded. "Alright. Whenever you're ready."

Palutena nodded and snapped her fingers. I looked behind me, watching as my wings faded into transparency. "Woah! It worked."

Palutena smiled. "I knew he'd be the right person." She walked over, attempting to feel for my wings, her hand passing right through where they would be. "They won't bump into anyone, either."

"I can still feel their weight, though," I said.

Palutena nodded. "Okay, and if I did this..." She snapped again, and the wings reappeared as they had vanished-fading into existence.

"That is awesome!" I said. I grinned at Palutena. "I can actually check out Skyloft!"

Palutena nodded. "You can, in fact, how about we have Link give you the grand tour of daytime Skyloft right now?"

I frowned. "He's probably busy trying to figure out the riddle about that song. The Ballad of the Goddess, I think."

Palutena hummed. "Doesn't sound familiar. But then, i could have missed it in all my time watching over my sister's realm in her place. But no, Link is waiting for you on that area of the island where you and he jumped off to head to the temple. I asked him to wait there."

"First Viridi, now you," I said with a sigh. "Alright. What weapon should I bring with me?"

Palutena thought. "Maybe...no, never mind. I was thinking Orbiters but it would be hard to explain to people why you have floating objects above your shoulders. Maybe a palm weapon? Easy enough to hide and explain."

"I'll see what we have." I turned to head to the weapon room, then stopped. "Wait...how are we going to explain my presence? I mean, Skyloft isn't that big a place. I would think everyone knows everyone there."

Palutena shook her head. "That's up to you and Link to figure out. For now, grab a palm weapon and tell me when you're ready to head to Skyloft."

I nodded and dashed to the weapon room, heading to the palm section and looking over the tattoo-like weapons decorating an admittedly pitifully small section of the room. I didn't really use palms as much as, say, claws or bows, so I didn't keep much of them. But what I had was a pretty decent selection, and after looking over them, I eventually settled with using the Violet Palm. I held a hand out towards it, watching it snake around my arm and settle into my skin, looking like a regular, if very elaborate, tattoo.

"Alright," I said, "ready!"

"Wait." Palutena appeared before me, holding a brown cloak. "Here, so you can hide your arm. Don't want people asking questions you can't answer."

"Uh...alright." I took the cloak into my arms, deciding to put it on once I arrived at Skyloft.

"Alright. Then you're free to return to Hylia's realm."

I nodded, rushing towards the nearest door and throwing it open. I jumped out as Palutena activated the power of flight and guided me towards the island of Skyloft. She set me down on the part of the island where Link and I had previously left, and I immediately saw Link waiting, watching me land.

"Pit," he said.

I smiled. "Heya Link! Watch this!" I looked back as the charm activated and my wings vanished from view.

Link blinked. "They're gone."

I nodded. "Yeah! Lady Palutena convinced a couple of gods to create an enchantment to hide my wings." I lifted the locket. "It's on this, so now I can help out around Skyloft."

Link pushed himself to a stand. "That's helpful." He smiled. "Although I'm about done with what I have to do here."

"Oh, are you?"

He nodded. "Turns out there was a second verse to the song I'd never heard before." He paused. "Have you ever heard the song?"

I shook my head. "No. Lady Palutena didn't even know about it when I mentioned it."

Link sighed. "Well, I'm not a very good singer, but the lyrics go something like this." He cleared his throat.

"Oh youth, guided by the servant of the goddess, unite earth and sky, and bring light to the land.

Oh youth, show the two whirling sails the way to the Light Tower...and before you a path shall open, and a heavenly song you shall hear."

I hummed. "You have a really good voice. You figured it out already?"

Link smiled. "Thanks. And it referred to the windmills-two of them-in Skyloft. I had to make them face the Light Tower, which I could use the device we got in Lanayru to do. One of them lost the small fan I had to use to turn it, so I had to find it and use this annoying little robot-similar to the ones we found in Lanayru, except it could fly-to bring it up."

"Annoying? How so?"

Link sighed. "Scrapper-the robot-hates me and is obsessed with Fi. He calls me 'Master Shortpants' and Fi 'Mistress Fi.'" He gave me a sharp look when I snickered at the nickname. "It's not funny."

"Sorry, sorry." I took a deep breath. "So, you get it figured out."

He nodded. "Yeah. I was about to head to the Light Tower when your goddess-Palutena-told me to wait here for you."

"Well, here I am." I pulled the cloak on and tied it around my neck, using the large sides to hide my arm. "Let's get going."

Link nodded. "Let's." He lead me towards Skyloft's courtyard. We-or more specifically, I-got a few weird looks from locals, but they didn't approach, going about their business as Link an I approached the Light Tower and pulled ourselves up the ladder to the top.

We found ourselves in an area with circular holes similar to the ones in the Sealed Grounds, some kind of mirror, and a beam up sunlight coming though a window above us.

"This wasn't here before," Link muttered.

"Well it is now," I said, standing back to let him do his thing.

Link lifted the harp, playing a few notes, and a symbol appeared on the ground beneath his feet. He stood back as Fi emerged from the sword, floating across from him. A circle of light began to pulse from the symbol, and Link strummed in time with the circle. Once he was in time, Fi began to sing-wearing the creepiest expression I've ever seen anyone wear while singing-and the lights like the ones in the Sealed Ground lit up. Once they finished the song, the area turned until the sunlight shined into the mirror thing, which lit up and shot a beam of light right into the large storm head a good distance away from Skyloft.

Fi spoke up. "Master, there is a high probability that this beam of light will lead us to clues as to the whereabouts of the three flames. I recommend you investigate what lies at the end of this beam."

Link sighed as she returned to the sword. "Into the storm head, I guess."

We climbed off of the tower and used Link's loftwing to fly to the hole the beam created, dodging mini twisters in the air. We entered the hole without much trouble, but it was once we were within that things got weird.

The area inside the storm head was weird, dotted with small islands, one of which had a rainbow over it. There was a large tower in the distance that the beam ended at, and we made our way there. However, I saw something out the corner of my eye, and gasped, tightening my hold around Link. "Link, dive!"

He glanced back at me but did so, the bird diving down a bit before straightening out. "What is it?"

I didn't immediately reply, staring at the gelatinous, jellyfish like creatures grouped just above us. "Komaytos..."

"What...?"

I looked at him. "Komaytos," I repeated, "those things above us. They latch into you and drain your life energy. They're creatures in the Underworld army where I'm from."

"What are they doing here?" He asked.

"I don't know," I said with a frown. "They shouldn't be."

"Ask your goddess?" Link suggested.

I shook my head. "I'll try." I closed my eyes. "Lady Palutena?" I got no response, and tried again. "Lady Palutena? Can you hear me?" Still no response. I frowned, opening my eyes. "I think the cloud breaks our connection," I said, "I can't contact her. Just like on the surface."

Link sighed. "We'll figure it out when we get out of here, then," he said with a nod.

We made our way to an island beside the one with the tower, and Link managed to solve a puzzle to create a bridge to the entrance-which had to be crawled through. Link went in alone, since with my connection to Palutena broken, the enchantment wore off and my wings were visible and in the way. I stood at the far edge of the island, looking around and managing to spot a few more enemies of the Underworld-mostly Komaytos and Monoeyes as well as a Mik or two. How could this happen? How could Underworld Troops be in this entirely different world?

I looked behind me as Link's footsteps approached. "Everything alright?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I just..." I sighed. "I'm seeing other Underworld enemies. Minor ones, Monoeyes and Miks." I frowned. "I don't understand."

"Well, let's head to Skyloft," Link said, "It'll be night soon, and once we're out of this storm head you can ask your goddess."

I nodded and jumped off the edge with him, being caught by the Loftwing and flown back to Skyloft. Outside the storm head, I heard Palutena's voice again. "Pit?"

"Lady Palutena!" I said, "Why are there Underworld forces here?!"

There was a pause. "What do you mean?"

"We saw Komaytos and Miks and Monoeyes in there!" I said.

"That...I don't know, Pit," she says quietly. "There shouldn't be any there..."

"She doesn't know," I told Link.

Link frowned. "Strange. Well, let's get back to Skyloft. We can get some rest and tomorrow head to our next destination."

I nodded and fell silent as we approached Skyloft. Palutena reactivated the enchantment as he jumped to the ground, slowed by the sailcloth. The sun was starting to set and most people were retiring to their homes, so Link lead me to a large building he called a Knight Academy and into the area that was his room.

It was modest, with a desk, a wardrobe, a few wood carvings it looked like, and a bed. Link removed his sword and shield from his back and laying it against the leg of the bed. "Bed's all yours," he said, moving to the wardrobe and pulling out some clothing from within.

"But it's your bed," I said, setting the cloak on the chair by the desk.

"It's my bed and I'm telling you it.'a yours to sleep in," he said, "So sleep." Before I could respond, he left the room, closing the door behind him.

I sighed and removed my sandals, letting myself collapse in the bed. It wasn't the most comfortable, but I've slept on worse. The pillow smelt vaguely of some kind of fruit I couldn't identify, but it was a pleasant scent, and I quickly found myself drifting off.

I woke up to my shoulder being shaken, Link's voice murmuring a quiet "Pit, it's time to wake up."

"Mmph...five more minutes..." I muttered quietly, turning on my side and attempting to drift back into sleep.

I heard a quiet chuckle. "Well, I guess that means this fresh, warm pumpkin soup goes to waste. What a shame."

I huffed and cracked my eyes open. "I'm up, I'm up." I sat up, stretching. "Bribing me with food. Evil."

Link smiled, holding out a bottle. "No, it just means I'm learning. And by the way, pumpkin soup doesn't go bad. It just goes cold, and it's much better warm then cold."

I took the bottle, downing it's contents quickly before hanging it back and standing up. "So what's the plan?"

Link didn't answer, reaching forward and grabbing my arm-the one with the palm weapon. He tugged it closer, ignoring my protests, and examined it. "What's this?"

"It's another weapon," I said, "easier to hide then most of my other ones."

"It's the weirdest weapon I've ever seen. How did I not see it yesterday?"

I took my arm back, giving a slight shrug. "You'll see it in action in a bit. Now what's the plan?"

Link grabbed his sword, slinging it on his back, then picked up his shield-which wasn't really in the best of conditions. "I think we should head to the Bazaar first," Link said, "I think I can afford a better shield-or at least a repair on this one. Then we've gotta head to Faron Woods. I'll explain more once we're there."

I nodded, grabbing my cloak and throwing it on. "Let's get going, then."

We left the room, heading towards the Bazaar. I was astonished by all I the people in the large tent. There was a woman manning a counter with all of these large bowls of multicolored liquid, along with her husband, a weak man stirring a large cauldron with a baby on his back. There was a bored looking shopkeeper who got excited as Link browsed his wares. I saw a man staring at me with large blue eye-he was kinda creepy-a muscular man working on something in the corner and a woman cooking. Link bought a purple shield from the shopkeeper, who claimed the shield would protect from fire and electricity but was weak in durability. He headed to another stall, and I stood aside as he talked to the woman behind the counter. The woman, who had previously looked bored, lit up as soon as Link drew near, her cheeks flushing and her squeaky voice calling him things like "darling."

Link looked uncomfortable, and I couldn't help snickering.

"You there!"

I looked behind me at the man with large blue eyes. "Uh...yeah?" I asked, shifting uncomfortably.

He beckoned me over, resting his other hand on his crystal ball. "Please, come here. I've something to tell you."

I hesitated, drawing near. "Me?"

The man nodded. "These large, beautiful eyes of mine have seen something concerning you within my crystal ball," he said, "You must know!"

I felt a spike of worry go through me. "Ah...but I can't afford-!"

"No money!" The man said, "This once, you will not pay for my services! This is far too grave!"

I opened and closed my mouth a few times. "Uh...okay. What is it?"

He closed his eyes, his hands hovering over the crystal ball. "A dark presence," he said, "Whose aura echoes your own, he is in pain. He needs aid. He longs for a light amongst the dark to guide him to safety. The dark closes in, trapping his mind within his own head, toying with him like a puppet on strings. He needs his strings cut, but only the light among the dark can cut them and free him. He must be freed, before the darkness swallows him whole."

As the man spoke, I peered into the crystal ball, and could have sworn I saw an image forming. It was blurred and hard to determine what it was. Pittoo? That creature, the Imprisoned? I couldn't tell. When I realized he finished speaking, I look up. "I-I see..."

"Everything alright?"

I looked behind me at Link. "Y-yeah, everything is fine," I said, pushing myself to a stand. I looked down at the man, meeting his eyes. "Ah...thanks, I guess."

He nodded. "Take care now, you two. I foresee an interesting future in store for you both.

Was...was he smirking?

Link nodded, leading me out. As we left, I saw that girl eyeing Link longingly, sparing me only a curious glance before her gaze returned to Link.

We headed for the courtyard. As we walked, i turned a smirk to Link. "So the hero has an admirer, eh?"

Link frowned, looking to the side awkwardly. "Peatrice doesn't know about the whole hero thing. No one does except for Zelda's dad. She just likes me because I'm the only one who visits her frequently and because I'm nice to her."

I chuckled. "So, if Zelda ends up with Groose, she's option number 2?" I asked. I felt a weird feeling spike through me at the thought but ignored it, looking at Link as he answered.

"I don't think Zelda has any interest in Groose," he said, "And I wouldn't be with her anyway. She's like my little sister. And Peatrice...she's nice an all, but she's not really my type."

I rose an eyebrow. "What is your type?"

Link hums, looking around. "Uhm...appearence-wise, I guess brunettes, like Orielle over there." He waved at a brown-haired girl nearby, who smiled and waved back.

I rose an eyebrow. "What about personality wise?"

Link shook his head. "I guess...someone I can joke around with, but I can rely on to both have my back and be able to protect themselves in dangerous situations. Someone who I don't have to lie to about what I'm doing, because they already know. My options there are severely limited, considering this adventure is supposed to be secret."

I nodded slowly. "I'm sure you'll find someone."

Link nodded. "Maybe, but that's an issue for another day. For now, let's head to Faron Woods and find those flames."

**Phew. That was a lot of typing. Next up: the Silent Realm! Wonder how that should go.**

**see that little button that says "Review this Chapter?" Click it please! Sayonara~!**


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